It is End of Heat (Chushu), the 14th traditional Chinese solar term, when the heat starts to retreat. It’s a day to worship ancestors and welcome Autumn.
We decided to go for a drive to Indian Grinding Rock SHP, where we can slow down in the mountains.
When we arrived, it’s already late, so quiet you can hear the birds chirping near by and the dogs barking from afar. In the soft light of sunset, everything is merging into one, like a veil, no more edges. As if you can forgive everything, like the sun forgives the night, blessing it with a gorgeous glow. That moment, beauty is not dramatic but soft, not dazzling but amiable.
Strolling around the park while sun is slowly retreating behind the mountain, I can feel fall is touching my face gently through the evening breeze. The air is crisp, the sky seems higher. Seems that the Sierra got touched by fall first. Maybe fewer people here, maybe because it is in the mountains, maybe I’m just more receptive here.
The countryside has its own song. The ranch fence wrapping a piece of heaven, the windmill casting the shadow of resilience, the house sitting at the far end of the road calls the heart home.
