The mid-March weather was unseasonably warm. The sun was shining in all its glory, the snow was melting at a prodigious rate, and a number of us began itching to get outside. One of our favourite summertime activities (for it truly seemed to have gone straight from winter to summer) is bicycling, so since the weather was lending itself toward this, several of us took off. Our first trip of the season, not counting the little 30 km excursion Stephen and I took together in February, was across the city and out into the farmland beyond to return a couple CD’s borrowed from some friends. What began as a pleasure ride, turned out to be quite an adventure. Not far down the road, we were faced with a flat – and no spare. Thankfully, a bicycle shop nearby was open and we were able to change the innertube.
When we arrived at our destination we were delighted to learn that we would have some extra company for the return trip – complete with a little detour to visit a wonderful, Godly widow friend. Her yard was still covered in snow. A couple people took advantage of the easy “bicycle rack.”
The rest of the trip home was uneventful and we enjoyed God’s marvelous creation as we travelled.
This first trip made us all the more eager to get out again. About a week later, another trip was planned: beginning from our home, we would circle around the south of Sherbrooke, stop in Coaticook for icecream, and finish up in Cookshire – a total of nearly 100 km.
Our route took us primarily through farmland. The rolling hills of open fields bordered by thick woods, the farm buildings dotting the landscape, lanes running beneath the overspreading branches of huge trees – it all seemed to lend itself to photographing.
Seeing sap buckets hanging from trees without any snow around was a little odd, but it is the right time of year…
This trip, too, was not without adventure. Less than 30 km into the trip, a bike accident (thankfully inflicting only minor injuries) necessitated a rather lengthy stop as we sought to repair one of the bicycles. In due time, however, we were again on the road to Coaticook.
Lunch break was well appreciated by everyone, particularly as it was somewhat later than we had anticipated. When we had finished, we rode down the street to the Coaticook icecream manufacturing plant.
While a few pictures were taken while riding…
… the cameras came out most often when we were paused to rest or talk.
Can anyone tell me why photographers like photographing each other?
As I reflect again on the time spent enjoying fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ and marvelling at the magnificence of God’s creation, my heart is filled with gratitude that God has given us the capacity to know and understand the reason for it all – His glory. He has chosen to display His glory not only in nature, but also, and more importantly, in lives surrendered to Him.
“I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another…” Isaiah 42:8