Blazing Color

The colors of this autumn are so magnificent, none more so than on a drive down Highway 94, yesterday, into and through, wine country. Yes, the wine was incredible, always enhanced when sipping and chatting with others, basking in the sun, embracing the breeze, but the colors....it was as if God took a magic paintbrush and just threw dabs of glory on a wide canvas. I don't know that I ever saw anything like it, so it was for that reason, and the chance to spend some quality time with family, that I was glad I ventured out on a Sunday. Sundays are never simple or easy anymore, I suppose it's because of the connotation to family day, sometimes dwelling on the empty hole in my heart as I remember family church days, pot roast dinners, phone calls or visits, until the dreaded 5:00 or 6:00 in the evening would come and it would be time to concentrate on the week ahead. In retirement, I am afforded the beauty of simple Sunday evenings, no laundry or cooking ahead needs to be done, there is always tomorrow, or the next day. A friend/colleague of mine and I joked that months ago I told him I was going to clean my "lazy susan" in the kitchen, and I still have not gotten around to it...I get around to whatever I deem necessary, now. Another perk of this phase and stage is I am no longer ruled by the demands of life outside my home.

But back to the wonder of the fall colors...a friend sent me a message that said something like, "when reluctant to change, notice the beauty of autumn"...not exactly the same quote, but the message is the same. For me, that message means that every evolving minute there is change, brought to our family with a sudden, life altering moment that will always stand still in time. Yet, the changes can bring magnificence. A stronger woman emerges in Jennifer, an awareness that life is short and we should explore and travel has been brought to Joe and me, a sense of music and lyrics that I feel I never heard before, discovering new and intriguing artists and vocalists, time for reading the never ending lists of books and stories, a pending trip from my sister who will stay the whole week rather than a few days, an attitude that we (Kathy and I) are going to drink from the finest glasses and NOT plastic cups, and we are going to drink the best wine first!

Change is constant and next Saturday the canvas of trees will not look the same, the leaves will have blown off, the rains will most likely see to that, but the beauty will be there, nevertheless. There may not be blazing oranges, yellows, and reds blending together in their brilliance but there will be something different, something new to seek and learn from and appreciate. There will be a time for something new.

As promised in Ecclesiastes there is a time for everything, Chapter 3, verse 4..."a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance..."

This is the day....love, Kathy