no.165 131012 Thank you for an awesome date with my daddy

Driving and listening to "Cavatina" on repeat.

I had an awesome date with my dad today! I thought it'd be a hassle to take my bike in the car and etc, but my dad convinced me to bring it to the park. And guess what, I was really glad that I listened to my dad. I think I would’ve regretted it if I left my bike at home.

I loved biking along the trail as I saw the yellow leaves dancing in the wind. It was a beautiful sight. I felt the warmth in the perfect fall breeze, and the smell of the dry leaves on the ground was pleasant too. Words can't describe how I felt! It was time of pure joy.

The park we went today used to be my family’s go-to park in the fall. We’ve been going there around Thanksgiving or my birthday to see the autumn leaves, and do a barbeque. Some years, we would go with our family friends. I think everyone kind of stopped doing it because we all got caught up in life. This year, it was just me and my dad. My sister is away for school and she didn’t come back for Thanksgiving, and my mom is in Korea. Although it was just the two of us, I still wanted to go somewhere for Thanksgiving, as a way of keeping our family tradition I guess.

I realized that the fall report online was wrong. It wasn’t even close to 70%! There were a lot of greens along the road, which was a little disappointing. I’m not sure if it’s related to pollution, but for some reason, it seems like the colours of the leaves are less beautiful each year… it makes me sad. I always have an image in my mind of how beautiful the park will look like, but in reality, it never meets my expectation. Maybe I need to go farther up north.

At the lake, I was able to have some time on my own for a bit. Since it's Thanksgiving and since my birthday is approaching, I thought about things I'm thankful for this year. I was amazed at how much God has done in my life this year. I’ll be sharing more about this later!

Driving into and out of the park I played something that both my dad and I can enjoy - John Williams' Cavatina. If it was just me driving, I probably played jazz. You see, jazz isn't my dad's thing… My dad drove all the way to the park for me and I thought playing his favourite music was the least I could do for him. The song was on repeat until we left the park – that’s how much he liked it.

Oh, I want to share one more song with you. While I was overlooking the lake, I kept singing one song. It's called "I Stand Amazed" sung by Chris Tomlin. I guess this song summarizes where I stand with God at the moment, looking back at my life.