Six rows of bright orange trees, gleaming under the sun, stretched a few meters straight ahead of us. The golden leaves ruffled as the cool early morning breeze blew, giving us shivers as we walked on.
One wouldn’t think that we’ve been walking for half an hour already, lost in this beautiful part of the city, for not a single sweat trickled down our faces in the late autumn cold. A few early morning bikers and joggers passed by as we found ourselves between the rows of trees, simultaneously taking in the view that we were all blessed to see for the first time and hurrying to reach our destination before the next one in our itinerary.
As we reached the bend and my companions walked towards the restrooms located between beautiful clumps of green, orange, and red trees, I sat on a bench under leafless trees. I inhaled the fresh air that was not easy to come by in the city I lived in and took in the sheer size of this park — the biggest one I’ve ever found myself in yet. To my right were paths covered in autumn leaves leading to different attractions of the park. To my left was a river, and to the other side of the river were more rows of trees at different stages of their leaves’ life cycles.
The birds chirped overhead, the leaves rustled and cracked around, and the river flowed gently nearby. No one walked nor biked by as I sat and rested for a few precious minutes.
It was nature in its purest and most beautiful form, and I was glad to bask in its elegance and greatness in those few minutes knowing that it was the last day of a trip that has always just been a dream to me.
