Daily Journal

Friday, August 05, 2005 While sitting in the park this morning doing some spiritual reading, I kept hearing the sounds of little girls screaming and shouting with happiness. It was a misty morning, very early, and the sounds seemed to be coming from far away. Every so often I would hear them again, and I would look up and gaze through the mist and listen to those distant sounds of early morning delight. On a sweltering afternoon, I found some shady relief on the Pawcatuck River near Ashaway. I drifted along in my inflatable kayak, pushed occasionally by a pleasant breeze. Some Canada geese and three swans were enjoying the river also, and we drifted along quietly, seemingly on an outing together to take pleasure in the coolness of the shady trees along the shore. I rode out to the beach this morning, where I happened to have a very agreeable conversation with a man who was walking with his wife. He stopped to ask about my bike, and we proceeded to have a wonderful 10-minute chat about teaching, books, teenagers, bikes, Westerly, West Hartford, beaches, and summer heat. It was a brief but satisfying encounter, one which I savored as I pedaled back home.