It was a perfect autumn morning. The cool air was clean and crisp. Colorful leaves cascaded silently to the ground like giant snowflakes. By 9:15 a.m. the sun had already taken full command of the clear blue sky. My wife and I sat and sipped our coffee together as we beheld this idyllic world. It was Thursday.
Friday arrived in like fashion…almost. A few things had changed. The sun still reigned brightly over the pastoral scene, but there were no leaves falling. The whining sound of a leaf blower droned from down the street all morning. And the wind had picked up a bit, which turned out to be a blessing, since we had to air out the house after a cooking mishap the night before. Some sauce had bubbled over the side of a baking casserole dish and burned on the bottom of the oven, permeating the entire house with a horrible, smoke-filled odor for almost an entire day. It was my own fault for overfilling the pot to begin with, and the result detracted from an otherwise nice day.
Then Saturday rolled in like a depression. It was cold, wet, and overcast. The dreary rain throughout the day set the tone to discover that a friend’s mother had died that morning. She’d been struggling with health issues for some time, but that was more of a frustration than a comfort. Then the emotional pendulum of the day swung back to the opposite extreme that evening as my wife and I attended the premier solo performance by a former guitar student of mine. I hadn’t seen him in years, and I was immensely proud of him for working his way up to booking his own gig. He was elated that I came, and I even asked him for an autograph, his very first one, encouraging him that it would be worth some money someday.
The weekend rounded out with another musical performance, this time by my sister as she played her flute and piccolo in a church Christmas production. Hearing her play evoked a mixed bag of emotions owing to memories of the motorcycle accident two years ago that almost took her from us; and the struggles she’s overcome to walk, to eat, to adapt to loss of smell, the metal plate and numbness in her face, even returning to her job as a nurse and studying to become a nurse practitioner. And at the musical production, with no feeling in her lips, she nailed every note perfectly.
“To everything there is a season,” we’re told, or sung to if you play 60s rock music (the Bible said it first, the Byrds just coined a turn-turn-turn of phrase). Seasons come, and seasons go. Each life experience lasts for a season–some short, some long, some good, some bad, some caused by our own choices, and some just follow the natural course of things. We all have them. Some we’d like to revisit, and some we’d like to forget. Some are still very real and palpable, while others are nothing more than a faded memory. Some may come around only once, and some are cyclical. Life happens.
But like that great philosopher Willie Wonka once said, “We are the music-makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams.” Actually, he was quoting the poet Arthur O’Shaughnessy, but we’ll score Willie with an assist.
Anyway, one thing about seasons is they always change. Sometimes they overlap. Sometimes they’re unusual and untimely. Sometimes they change rapidly from one day to the next. Whatever you’re going through and wherever you’re at, it’s only for a season. And it will change. For me things have changed every day. And how was today? It was a perfect autumn morning…
Beautifully said, Kevin!
Thank you! 🙂
Hmmmm, this is interesting. That’s not the comment I made at all and it’s dated a day before I made it. But the comment I made on Thursday, the 17th, hasn’t shown up. Still in moderation?
Wow, I don’t have any other notifications or pending comments from you. The comment above has your same credentials of email and website url as your other comments except with a different IP address from the others. Did you make the any comments from a different computer location? Sorry if a comment didn’t get though somehow!
Hello! I realize this is somewhat off-topic but I had to ask. Does running a well-established blog like yours require a massive amount work? I am brand new to operating a blog but I do write in my diary on a daily basis. I’d like to start a blog so I can share my personal experience and feelings online. Please let me know if you have any recommendations or tips for brand new aspiring bloggers. Thankyou!|
Thank you for your question! Blogs don’t have to take a ton of work. A few good tips: 1. Spend more time on creating good content than on how it looks;
2. Focus on the goals and purpose of your blog;
3. Write like you would to a friend;
4. Engage your audience, respond to them, and see how you can help them, otherwise just write in a private journal to yourself.
Happy blogging!
Who can even tell with the internet any more?
My comment was along the lines of: While I had read mention of Heidi’s accident, I had no idea that all of that was going on during the last weeks I was at the REC. Heidi sounds like an amazing woman. But I suspect that such strength runs in the family as well as being fueled by The Son. I can’t tell you how much your friendship has meant to me, both in person and online. I am thankful that our paths intersected.
Thank you. You did leave a similar message on the following day’s blog post “They’re Playing Our Song”, which I also replied to. Is that the one you meant?
Boy, I am loopy! I had completely forgotten about this blog post so I assumed you meant the other one. Sorry about that.
Glad the mystery is solved. 🙂