Treasures

Today Ivan and I went for a walk. Normally I would say that Oklahoma fails at fall colors. Dismally. In fact this is the first autumn that we have been here that I have not felt like I completely missed the season. I'm not sure whether there really is something different about this year, or whether I've just gotten used to seeing a lot more brown, but I have loved every pop of color I've come across, and I'm convinced that this has been the best fall yet. Just look at this tree!

It was a beautiful morning, in a beautiful place. Recently I've really learned to appreciate the beauty of Oklahoma. It is rather different from where I grew up, but I really do like it here. There may not be mountains or tall trees, but you can't argue with that sky, and prairie grasses make a music of their own.



I was a little early to pick up Henry at school, and his class was outside on the playground. He saw me pull in and ran to the fence, jumping up and down, waving and shouting, "Hi, Mom! Hi!" Pretty soon there was a whole swarm of four-year-olds at the fence saying, "Hi, Henry's mom!" I said hello to them all and gave Henry a high five, but before I could walk away to wait on the bench by the school entrance, a little boy poked a piece of bark through the fence for me. "Here you go," he said. "It's school bark." Of course that meant I received several more treasures as other classmates joined in the gift giving. I was even given a tattered leaf.


This was probably the best moment of my whole week and made me so happy in ways I cannot express. I loved how happy Henry was to tell his friends, "That's my mom!" I loved the innocent generosity of children who were immediately ready to accept me as a friend.