Graceful Transition

We still have warm, sunny and peaceful afternoons here in Northeast Ohio but nevertheless, the summer *is* coming to a close.

These Queen Anne's Lace flowers peaked in the middle of the summer and are now closed up and brittle but I like how they maintain their dignity as they stand tall under the autumn skies...

Hiding Out

This little acorn was tucked so far under the wilting grass, weeds and retiring meadow flowers that I almost missed her. What a shame that would have been!

The little nut looks to me like she is biding her time until she can become snow-covered and so nestle herself in the ground to start hibernating and gestating for the coming spring when she will emerge as a baby tree.

She looks to me as if she is trying to disappear -- not so that she isn't seen, but so that no squirrels capture her before she reaches her truest moment. She knows that her special destiny in time is not yet here and she knows that, "laying low" is a strategy she can use to help her survive until then.

She is retreating from the spotlight now so that she can gather her forces and prepare for her most authentic entrance of all...

Autumn Bounty

Autumn is at its beginning edge here in northern Ohio. It's a season I don't usually enjoy because I don't like the colder temperatures and in addition, summer *always* feels too short to me. I typically feel a dread when fall comes since it portends the soon-to-follow wintertime and the cold temperatures and gray days have always been my enemy.

But in my journey to develop more acceptance of my life I am working to see the autumn glass as half-full. That means seeing the sights of autumn through eyes that say, "Yes" instead of, "No."

With that thought in mind I ventured into the countryside this past week and stopped at some local markets which were overflowing with, what this year I made the active choice to see as, autumn's bounty.

I must say, it was beautiful...

The Present Beauty

This autumn country road is beautiful -- but I can't enjoy it. The road is curving up around the bend and I don't know where it's going. For a minor league control freak like me, that unknowing is quite unsettling.

I want to rush through this curve to see what it around the corner. I want to zoom by the gorgeous fall colors just to be certain that nothing bad is waiting for me around the bend. Intellectually I can see the colors of the trees and know that they are beautiful -- but I don't feel it. I am too busy being worried...

I am challenged to work on being in the "here and now" when change is impending.

It's easy for me to relax in the middle of July when summer is surrounding me but in the transition seasons I lose my grounding. I find myself nostalgic for the past and worrying about the future. It's a vicious circle that takes away all of my enjoyment of the present.

I strive to be able to pull up a Lazy-Boy chair in my mind, right there in the middle of the tall grass of this scene, and take time to breathe in the beauty I see around me to the deepest parts of my still un-trusting soul.

I want to enjoy the "here and now" before it so quickly becomes the "there and then."