Morning Commute

One good thing about living in the city and working in the country is the commute. I have what my friend Kathy refers to as a "reverse commute", I'm headed out of the city as most people are headed in. It's about 25 miles, give or take, and takes me about 35 minutes. The worst part is getting the two miles from my apartment to the highway. The highway part isn't too bad, 295 runs along a pretty stretch of the state - salt marshes, rivers and part of Casco Bay. I see eagles, ospreys, red-tailed hawks, assorted ducks, Canada geese and the occasional interesting bit of roadkill (possums really need to learn to look both ways before attempting to cross the highway). I jump off the highway early, stop at the same place for a bagel and coffee, and then hit the backroads the rest of the way. It's a pretty drive, especially in the early morning on the weekends.

Some days I get lucky and see wildlife. I frequently have to stop for turkeys in the road, I don't consider that exciting anymore, it happens so often. What I really treasure are the glimpses of more elusive animals. The deer drinking from a stream, seen only once. I know it won't happen again, but I look in the same spot every morning, always hoping. The fox coming out of a stand of pines into an open field, pausing, one front foot lifted, watching me as I watched it, both of us frozen for a moment in time. I drove on, letting it get back to its own business once again.

The seasons change, and I get to enjoy all their varied wonders. The pale, delicate green of new birch leaves in the spring; the short, deep forested beauty of a Maine summer; the riotous reds, oranges and golds of fall; the silver, icy beauty of winter. Sunny days, rainy days and snowstorms, I get to enjoy them all (OK, maybe not driving in the snowstorms, that's actually a little nerve-wracking, even with all-wheel drive).

All the seasons are good, but there's something special about a sunny early morning in winter after an ice storm. though. The sky so blue and every branch and winter weed shining like silver and diamonds in the early morning sunlight. I also love the stark beauty of a cloudy winter day, with the bare branches outlined against the grey sky and the white pines towering over everything, their needles the only green in sight.

It's on these early morning drives that I am reminded of of just how lucky I am to be able to do what I do, where I do it. I like my morning commute. The evening commute is another matter entirely