An Indian Summer morning… clear blue skies, brilliant sunshine, and a twinge of frost greet my morning walk. Four cardinals, three females and one male, rummage in the underbrush below the autumn dressed forest. As I breath deeply of the crisp air and thank God for another day to praise him, a fresh breeze loosens a few more reluctant leaves. Watching them flutter slowly down, landing randomly about me to join untold generations,

a brisk breeze

ripples the quiet stream…

swirling reds and golds

©Al W Gallia 2020

I reflect on their likeness to the life and death of our human lives. Then I wonder if the leaves feel God as I do? In the silence, I sense a gentle touch on my shoulder, and I know Jesus is with me, as always.