An Autumn Walk

As we move from September into October, the change of the seasons has come far quicker than expected. The air is crisp, the leaves are changing, and the shelves of stores are already stocked with Halloween decorations and pumpkin products.

Unfortunately, this also means it will be getting darker and colder from now on as we are on this journey to winter. Despite the passing sensation that comes with autumn, I would say that it is my favorite season.

I was reminded of this the other week when I did homework for one of my theology classes. Our assignment was to go for an hour-long walk with no music and no company and to think about what we are grateful for.

I have always enjoyed going for walks around campus and the reservoir, but since I was asked to do this for an assignment, I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity and go somewhere new for the walk, so I went to the Hammond Pond Reservation.

For a place so close to campus, I found it strange that I had not heard of many students from BC going there. It had a very walkable trail with a few smaller trails that branched off of it. The main trail goes around a large rock formation where you can exit at the other side of the woods or continue on and return to where you came from.

The closest entry from BC is at the point where Suffolk Road becomes Clovelly Road. A path branches off from there which leads to a crosswalk over Green Line train tracks. After crossing you are immediately in the woods. It feels like an entirely different world.

It is not difficult to reflect and pray on a wooded trail in autumn. There is still life about, many of the trees are still full and there are squirrels and chipmunks gathering acorns. At the same time, it is not as lively as the woods in the summer, which means there is a lot more silence that allows you to think.

When I usually go on walks, I listen to music or go with someone else. Without Anything to distract me, I was completely focused on what I was seeing and my assignment. As I went and thought about what I was grateful for, I realized that I was grateful for what I was seeing. All of those autumn sights with the rest of God’s creation were a short walk away from my dorm.

Many of the things that we are grateful for and should be grateful for in life are as passing as the fall colors and crisp air. Unless we take the time to appreciate them fully and without distraction, we may only realize how much they meant to us when they are gone and the snow starts falling.

It is as Henry Longfellow writes in his poem, “Autumn”:

Oh, what a glory doth this world put on

For him who, with a fervent heart, goes forth

Under the bright and glorious sky, and looks

On duties well performed and days well spent!