Monday, September 22, 2008

Harvest

Without even looking at a calendar it is apparent when an equinox or solstice in nigh.  There is a definitive moment when in total presence and clarity, I stop for a second, and say to myself "Fall is in the air."  I can't put my finger on it, and I can't describe exactly what it is, but when it happens... I know.  All of the times that I have scented that change in 36 years come together as an annual moment of continuity in my physical existence.  This happens every year for each changing of the season, and I have no doubt that my senses are far more accurate than the calendar's interpretation.  It is around these events that I feel most alive, and for a while after college and before settling down, these profound moments coincided with traveling.  A summer job ends and there is time to roam until the ski season starts.  You meet travelers along the way on similar journeys.  Now that I am settled into one community, I can experience elements of that change that I haven't experienced since I was the reason for my parents nesting.  My parents nested down for the winter in 1972 for me; and from 2005 on.... I nest for my child.  It is time to harvest from the efforts of the year.  I won't wait until December, I want to have a few months to enjoy the fruits and to ease into a cozy nest for winter with my closest loved ones.  I feel this excitement today, as we reach a new plateau with our daughter.  This week the whole family will travel together to my old stomping grounds in the Tetons.  Again, the circle is coming round.