That wind was whipping around at 22 miles per hour when I departed for my walk today. Not many leaves had fallen around my house as of yesterday, but they sure were scattered here, there and everywhere by the time I returned from my walk.

My friend and neighbor, Marge, hightailed it down to the river’s edge in Wyandotte to take some sunrise pictures – one of them is above. I secretly think Marge was also doing research to determine if that ancient mariner’s line about “red sky in the morning … sailors take warning” was true. That slightly reddish-looking sunrise might be a precursor to the storms we are expecting later today.

As for me, I wasn’t as adventurous, and took just a petite promenade, since it was cut short by sprinkles. I hesitated to hurry home just because of a few sprinkles, but good thing I did, because the sky opened up and the rain pelted down shortly after I got in the house.

As I trekked around Ford Park, managing to get in two loops around the entire park, the leaves were scurrying across the lawns and I walked through a huge pile of leaves which were swirling and dancing around my feet. They tickled my ankles which are still clad in low-rise walking socks. I passed some dried-looking ornamental grass that was waving wildly, bending almost in half, but still looking quite festive for Fall. Unfortunately, the gusty wind has already wreaked havoc with harvest and Halloween décor. I watched tall cornstalks tethered to porch railings and lamp posts, straining to break free and small decorations were already skittering across several lawns, probably lost forever to their original owners. I passed several garden flags which were furiously flapping in the breeze … there were the usual “Harvest Blessings” and “Welcome Fall”, plus flags showing team spirit for U of M, MSU, the Tigers, Wings, and, yes – even the Lions. I suspect we’ll be seeing alot more Detroit Lions flags flying this year.

I hate carrying an umbrella, preferring instead to be an optimist, but in my journey today I spoke with a gentleman who had come outside on his front porch to retrieve the newspaper. He turned out to be even more of an optimist than I am. I stopped after he said “good morning” and we chatted about the warm day and the excessive wind. I said that the gusty breeze meant the stormy weather expected later in the day was well on its way. He replied “if we didn’t have rain, how would we keep our sidewalks and streets clean?” … hmmm, well that is an optimistic viewpoint about the rain. I was polite and nodded my head that this was true, however, I did not add that perhaps Mother Nature has provided a power wash many times during the past few months.

A 2 ½-mile walk now seems like child’s play to me, but it was better than nothing, as I continue striving to stride toward the ultimate goal of 500 miles before year end. I leave you with this quote …

“I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” – Jimmy Dean