Todays forecast was sunny, with high temps in the low to mid 80's. There was a light breeze too. We started off at 10:30 AM, and for once, it wasn't my fault that we got going later than we intended too. The schrader vales are working much better than the Presta's did. Checking the tires and getting them to the right air pressure is much easier now.
We were less than a quarter of a mile from home when we heard our neighbor lady, frantically calling her 6 year old sons name. She ran up to us and asked if we had seen him, we hadn't. She said he wasn't around anywhere in the yard or surrounding area, and she wasn't sure how long he had been gone. She thought he was upstairs playing with her daughter and a friend, but unbeknowst to her, he had wandered outside to play. The sub division we live in consists of lots that are carved out of the forest, not a place to be wandering around , unless you know the area well. Not likely that a six year old boy would be able to find his way home if he went exploring in the woods alone.
I parked the trike in the shade, put the brake on and started walking the edges of the woods, calling her sons name. I was soon joined by a family that was up camping on their property for the week, several other neighbors joined in the search as well. Some, including the Dad of the missing boy, were on 4 wheelers, others were on foot. All of us were calling out the little boys name, hoping for an answer. I walked into the woods a bit, and around several homes, just incase the small child was hiding and afraid to come out. I prayed as I walked, asking the Lord to protect this little guy, who for a 6 year old, is usually pretty fearless. My biggest concern was that he had gone back on the 4 wheeler trails in the woods. They criss- cross the forest and converge in a sandy, bowl like area. With 10 trails or more, coming into the bowl, it is an easy place to become disoriented, not knowing what direction will lead out of the woods. There is also a pond in that area. Ponds and small, unchaperoned children don't always have a happy ending. I was praying that would not be the case here.
The air was filled with the voices of people , fanned out in all directions, calling the child's name. After about 20 minutes the child's father rode up on his 4 wheeler and announced that the boy had been found. The grandfather had gone looking for him on his ATV, and found him, back by the pond. The boy was OK. What a relief and what an answer to prayer. The ending could certainly have been much worse. I have no doubt that the Lord heard the prayers of many and had his hand of protection on this little one. Spent another 5 minutes telling others that the lost boy was found, safe and sound, and rejoicing with them about the happy ending, and then walked back to the trike, where Tony and Button were waiting.
I think our ride began exactly when the Lord wanted it to begin, at a time when our neighbors needed help. We thank him for a happy ending to the search.
Since the skies didn't have any clouds to give us shade, we decided to ride the trails again today. We stopped in LeRoy to do our banking, and got on the trail, that is right behind our local bank, heading north, towards Tustin. Got to Tustin, stopped for a bathroom break and to give Button some water and got on our way.
I can see that some of the summer wild flowers are beginning to dry up, the centers on the black Susan's are full of seeds, ready to plant anew when they fall to the ground.
No turtles on the trails today either. We have ridden the trail do much lately that I find myself hungry for some road riding, although the roads offer more scenery, they don't offer as much shade, so for a few more weeks, we'll probably be doing the trails. I am glad for the 4 miles of hills between us and the trail, as it helps keep our legs in shape for hill riding.
As I do every summer in mid August, I find myself yearning for the cool fall air, and the other things that go along with the change of season. I like summer, but there is something magical about fall. The colored leaves give off such a wonderful light, even on a rainy day. Already our nights have started to get cooler, making for great sleeping weather. Before we know it, we will be riding with our thermos of hot chocolate along.
We saw a small 4 or 5 point buck eating apples near a garage, but he went behind it before I could get a picture. The apple trees, are absolutely loaded with apples this year. Some are just starting to turn red, so perhaps on our next ride, the color contrast will be enough that they will show up well in a picture. I'll republish one of the earlier pictures I took of the apple trees in bloom, so you'll have a fresh image in your mind to compare the loaded apple trees too.
We rode 15 miles out, then turned around and headed for home. It was starting to get hot, and I knew that we would lose the trail shade if we continued on to Cadillac. We stopped for a break In Tustin. There is a nice bench right by the post office that is in the shade, so we ate our ice cream there. We met a couple from Rockford MI, which is about 75 miles from where we live. They were doing a 2 day, 90 ride on the White Pine Trail, from Rockford to Cadillac. They had camped at a little city park in Reed City the night before and were going to get a hotel in Cadillac tonight. We discussed the unpaved portions of the trail and the sights along the way. They said the unpaved portions were pretty packed down. Tony and I really want to do the ride from our house to Jenison, where our daughter lives, but we have been concerned over how well our trike would do on an unpaved surface. We rode the trail from LeRoy to 18 mile a few times before it was paved, and it really slowed us down. Not sure when the portion of trail between LeRoy and Reed City will be paved, we could road ride that section if we wanted to do it this year, but of course, there are lots of hills when riding on the road and not the trail. There is one other 9 mile section of the trail that would be unpaved as well, but we aren't sure where that section is.
From Tustin, our ride was uneventful. There was still some shade when we got home. We rode 30 miles. Sorry there aren't many pics on this blog entry. I didn't think to take a picture of the couple from Rockford, and there wasn't really anything new to see on the trail. Hope to have more pics for the next blog entry.
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