Beef Stew
It’s that time of year when the sun and wind paint the trees hues of warmth, almost creating an illusion of what is yet to come. It’s time for scratchy wool sweaters and corduroys. These days are reserved for close friends and comfort. They are the days for strolling through shag carpet forests with mellow conversation- dodging salamanders and toadstools.
My good friend, Maddy Walsh and I took a walk the other day between the September rainstorms of Ithaca, NY. It was one of those days where two friends who haven’t seen each other for months start out in a blustery dance of smiles and banter, then ease into the serious talk, digging deep into the bedrock of our beings which shapes the surface layer visible to everyone else. It was only a couple hours we spent as Obleo and Tayen incessantly played and scuffled and romped, splashing us with mud on their way by, as all dogs should. The ground was saturated with tiny creeks and drowning clover, and the leaves of grass and the leaves of trees soaked our legs. It was as every Autumn day should be, chilly and damp as we ate beef stew.
For me, leaving was hard that day. I hadn’t seen her in so long, and we couldn’t even say how long it would be again before we can actually meet up. Work, and the band, and travel, and family…all good things, but they’re never congruent. I’m so grateful for the fall, as once again it made me look and laugh, breath and listen, hope and embrace.
That day we dodged raindrops and streams forming but remained pleasant through it all. And as soon as I left, and got into town, the sun shown so brightly almost laughing at our efforts to hike together. But Maddy made it all right by saying,
“This is why I love the fall, it’s just so Dramatic!” Exactly.
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