Rainy September Morning

Slept surprisingly well and was wide awake by 4:30 a.m., but didn't get up until a little after 5. Tasks that seemed daunting late Thursday evening (empty the dishwasher, clean the bathrooms for Chris (home sitter, cat companion), tidy up, put out the trash) were easy to polish off this morning. After loading the car in the rain, we were on the road by 7:20.

There were no signs of early autumn on 35E, only late summer wildflowers and wet, spring green foliage on either side of the freeway. Buck Hill in Burnsville reminded us of the mountains in our near future, but today there was no hint of the ski and snowboard activity that will energize everyone who drives by a few months from now. The traffic north to St. Paul seemed light to me, but heavy to Bob, who doesn't usually witness rush hour in the Twin Cities. The rain was light, but persistent.

The beauty of the drive south on 35E always inspires me: I think about the highway architects and engineers who planned this freeway and nestled it into the Minnesota countryside, preserving the character of the surrounding landscape. Finally, a sign of fall! As we passed  Minnesota wetlands, many looking like lakes after last winter's snow and the heavy rains of spring and summer, we admired shorebirds resting on the Mississippi River flyway, on their way to our own favorite winter destinations on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. We entered Iowa, and temperatures soon rose toward their daytime high in the low nineties, and I remembered the last time I made this trip, on a snowy January weekend a few years ago, for the funeral of John Schmidt, the husband of Bob's cousin. This is a more cheerful day, and our spirits are soaring.