Off My Own Beaten Path

This morning when I went for a run, I started on one of my standard loops that I've run dozens of times before.  After a mile, I felt wanderlust kick in.  What if I went this other direction?  

I didn't know if the new route would be too long or too short or too hilly, but in the split second I had to decide whether to turn onto my regular trail or veer off my beaten path, I opted to take my chances and choose the unknown.

I passed quaint homes, old barns, and a garden where a young father was teaching his curly haired toddler how to pick raspberries from the bushes.  All the sights were welcome: the curve of a shallow creek, a pleasant old stone wall, an overgrown, dilapidated house set far from the road that conjured mysteries in my mind.

And I never would have known that any of it existed had I not tried the other direction.