Fall’s colors are already past their peak. The color doesn’t last very long, certainly not long enough to enjoy it properly. Wind has brought many leaves down, perhaps half of them. That’s enough to open up the view around the cabin. Funny, how summer’s heat never seems to end but fall’s glory is over in an instant.
This morning I found ice in the chickens’ water. My bed was covered with cats all night. The dogs huddled together like puppies. There’s no denying the season is changing.
It seems odd to me, after six warm months, to find ice again. After all the years I have seen ice come and go, I would have guessed that the annual reappearance of ice would be so old hat as to hardly even be noticeable, let alone worth mentioning. But that’s not the case. Apparently the span of 180 days or so is enough for the commonplace to appear new again.
Each year brings new surprises and new reappearances. The passing of time lets me look and think about things with a fresh eye and a fresh mind. I don’t know what the right amount of time is for the eye and mind to see old things in a new light. The surprise of the ice is a good reminder for me to think about the things I believe to be true and see if any adjustments are needed. Maybe what I thought was true last year isn’t as true this year. I’m pretty sure one season isn’t long enough for this process to work. Two seasons or 180 days works, though there’s nothing magical, so far as I know, about the passage of that amount of time.
The impending arrival of winter, with its shorter days and long nights, is as good a time as any for me to kick those thoughts around a little.
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6 comments:
Carolyn, Walking out to pick up my newspaper the other day, I had similar thoughts inspired by the recent change in the weather. Though I don't like the warm, humid summer, the cold weather has sort of caught me off guard, just like the ice in the chickens' water caught you off guard. I think it'll take a few days for me to get used to the new regime, but I'm sure I;; accommodate to it soon.
Scott: I think it's because summer feels so long, then just last week the leaves were at their peak and now there's ice. That all seems to happen very fast after those slow days of summer.
CarolynH.
I like the thoughts you are processing...(how else could I be a psychologist??) Fall is always tinged with a smidgen of sadness, for I know what lies ahead - although Christmas is always a bright spot in winter:)
The cold always comes as a little shock ... at least to me. And at first a little cold seems so cold ... until one acclimatizes and then the real cold doesn't even feel all that cold anymore.
A little off the topic, my big surprise was seeing a Dragonfly on Nov 2nd, zooming around catching bugs in mid air. I even got a picture (once it alit). Now this was a surprise and strange. I will post a picture soon. The dragons haven't been around for a while but the last few days have been so warm!
Jeanette: I don't know that I see fall with sadness--I love winter best of all! But after 6 months of warm or hot weather, the change of season to something that looks entirely different outside makes me look internally a bit to see what needs changed there, too.
Carolyn H.
Cicero: I think seeing a dragonfly in November is pretty special--not to mention unusual.
The warmth seems to hang on for a while, but then one day, it's just not there and the change seems like a sudden one.
Carolyn H.
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