summer memories #1: the blondel deviation

this memory, i think of as "the blondel deviation".

for those of you you who don't know dave blondel you might be expecting something a tad off colour - well no! blondel has tried to lead me down muddy and gravelly paths, but nothing really off colour.

if you don't mind, i'll take you back a little bit. a long time ago, dave mentioned on his blog that his buddy kieran had posted a piece about a little dirt road which (if followed) provided lovely scenery and exquisite views to cyclists who ventured off the river road bicycle pipeline. the dirt road he referred to is one i have passed a lot of times and yes, i have wondered as i pass it each time "what's up there" but it's the strangest thing that

i couldn't bring myself once to turn right and have a look.

note to self: stop writing notes to self and start asking more probing questions of self!

well one day this summer i followed dave's suggestion, and i am so glad i did!

i wasn't more than a hundred metres along the road when the quiet settled so suddenly around me it was breathtaking. to add to the beauty of the moment, a huge monarch butterfly fluttered up right next to me and followed me until i stopped to take this next photograph, at which time it flew on ahead and

then came back and joined me again!

it was right out of walt disney.

then it was entirely real.

further along this road, the sumac had really taken hold of the idea of autumn's arrival.

i love the gift of colour in nature and for that, the autumn has to be the most amazing

heap of gifts in the whole year!!!!

i got so immersed in the beauty of this little stretch of road that i took a "wrong turn". can you make a wrong turn when you're somewhere this beautiful? i think not!

i rode on, heading somewhere but i had no sense of direction although i figured at some point

i'd see either douro or warsaw.

but really.

i didn't care!

i mean ... why worry?!!