Memories of paths gone by

The weather was perfect on the trail this morning, with some vapors wafting off the grass along the sides from the dew. Many of my fellow occupants were the weekend users, taking advantage of a free morning:  a privilege I am able to appreciate  daily.

As I "good morning"ed everyone, I heard a " morgen" from a passing lady.  It only took a moment for it to register and I shouted back a "morgen" to her as I went by.  That sure did give me flashbacks to my runs while I was in Germany for 12 years. 

I would put aside my lesson plans and committee work for an hour, change into my running clothes and head out to the trails through the woods behind the school.  The dirt trails were easy on the legs and the variety of paths kept the routes interesting. Then, I would come back, refreshed and ready to tackle a few more hours work for the day.

When I went back for a visit a few years ago, I noticed that the paths were closed and you couldn't go across the bridge, crossing over the autobahn into the woods, any more.  Before I left in 2002 a few dependents of a soldier from the base had thrown huge rocks over the side of the bridge on to the autobahn, striking several cars and killing a woman driver.  Talk about ugly Americans.  I don't know if the boys are still in the German prison or not, but I think they got off with a lot lighter sentence than they would have here.

I would have hated the loss of access to the woods for my destressing each day.  Those woods were a lifeline for my survival.  I would take my class across the bridge into the woods where we would sit on the ground and learn all about the levels of growth in the forest, from the ground cover to the canopy and the animals that lived there.  It was a great way of bringing the classroom to the out of doors, with just a few steps across the bridge.

 It sure doesn't take much to stimulate thoughts about days gone by in me.  That's what  "living life to the fullest" is all about, memories to carry you into the rest of your life.