As I cycle home on a very familiar section of the Minuteman Bikeway in New England, on a beautiful sunny and unseasonably warm autumn day, I’m sitting straight up in the saddle with my arms folded across my chest, listening to my book, ruminating, and enjoying the visuals as the fall foliage flows past me. At 3 PM on a Wednesday there are few walkers and bikers on the path, so riding while sitting upright is not difficult.
Up ahead I see a class of first graders and two teachers walking across the bike path, back onto Waldorf School’s property.
Shortly before I pass them, the last of the kids traverse the bike path while a few linger so they can watch me go by.
One small girl crosses her arms exactly as I’m doing and stares into my eyes while the kids begin to chatter among themselves.
As I sail by, I hear one child say “How do you do that?”
It reminded me that the world is a novel and exciting place to the young. Everything is new!
I am so looking forward to teaching my recently born granddaughter the beauty in our world: how to catch a frog, fly a kite, dam a small brook, and build a bluebird house for her father. There is so much I can teach her.
And she will learn much more than I’ll ever know. What A Wonderful World.
Hayward Zwerling