Sitting out on the steps this morning I noticed that Mother Nature seems to be aware of the fact Labor Day has just passed. The trees are very subtly beginning to change color. You almost don't notice it unless you're looking for it. The morning temps are a little cooler. The squirrels are busy collecting acorns and such, stocking their larders for the months to come.
It's a quiet time. Yet there is this busy under current you can feel, if you take the time to just stop and be quiet.
September is a mixed month for me. I'm happy that we're moving out of the heat of summer. It's a time of beginnings in the sense that it is my husband and eldest son's birth month as well as a new school year starting for my daughter, the first grade teacher. A happy time. A time of anticipation.
At the same time, as with the seasonal change, there's that quiet, disquieting under current of change and a bit of sadness. My son will not be celebrating his 37th birthday. He is among the "forever young", those who left us before their full measure of years was lived out. In our minds anyway. The fact he is gone by his own choice kind of puts the lie to "left us before their full measure of years was lived out". He obviously felt his time with us on this cycle of life was completed.
Then there is tomorrow's anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center. How many of us will stop and reflect? On the changes that event brought to us all. On how our lives and America's place in the world has changed as a result. On where we were that day and how we felt. On where we, our country and the world are headed.
Time to stop and remember, to rededicate ourselves to the principals we live by. Time to talk to our young ones. Tell them what we remember. Instill in them the resolve that this sort of thing should never be allowed to happen again.
Your comments on fall remind me of a dear e-mail friend lost to cancer several years ago. Kia felt September was the time of new beginnings, even though the season signaled an end to summer blooms and the like. She felt it was much more applicable than "New Year" as a time to buy new pencils, pens and paper and start new projects and consider new goals and ideas.
ReplyDeleteI think your comments, here and elsewhere, has more of us reflecting on the meaning of 9/11 than we might have otherwise. I think this is a good thing.
Your discription of the season changes is beautiful! I can just visualize myself sitting there and seeing and feeling what you are! I love the month of September too, not just because it is the month of mine and my son's birthday, but just because of the changing season, the cool breezes, the new beginnings.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!