9.24.15 In the meantime

Somewhere along the line, a memo must've gone out to everybody. Time to take that pallet from the back of your house, and tie it up in front of your mailbox. I don't know. Was it Labor Day? 

Suddenly, they all sprouted up . I've never seen it before. Everyone must of gotten really hit last winter.

Down at Mitch's Marina, the old Jeep with the plow is parked neatly out in front, plow out.

And on our morning walk, as the sun prepared to crest the range, I glanced over at Barstow's farm store, to see the newly arranged pumpkins out by the score.

All the fields of cow corn are for the most part harvested, being ground up, filling silos for the long cold winter.

Down by the eagle sanctuary, in the thin fine silt soil, I see tracks of the smallest imaginable possum, having strolled this way sometime in the night. And a very small cat too, probably from the dairy farm, out and about, looking for better pickings.

The wind this morning across the fields and river is constant, the smell clean and sweet, as small birds rustle within the protective leaves of blackberry bushes, and the light begins to spill upon us, setting everything aglow.

Like many of us, I unconsciously wake feeling the flooding heaviness of all that concerns me, all that seems to be approaching, all that does not have evident solutions or responses.
And so I do what I can ; I turn my focus and my awareness to this immediate moment.
I let my senses come to the forefront, and fill myself with what I can smell, feel on my skin and in my hair, The small sounds that surround me, the things I can see right here and right now that fill me with peace. With happiness. With a gentle confidence. I remember to smile . To let go. 

And then I perceive all those worries and concerns, which are very real, receding. Back into perspective.

And as they recede, the unnecessary burden upon my neck and shoulders, upon my immune function, using up precious energy, costing me precious immunity, fostering pain and achiness, recedes also. 

For that is the way of it. Living our lives, being gentle with ourselves, and then just doing the best we can to remember the bigger picture. Not admonishing ourselves for what we are unable to pull off. Just doing what we can.

In the meantime, only the tiniest smattering of leaves have turned, have fallen , the grass is still tall and green.
But the wildlife all know, and the Oaks busy dropping reams of acorns like a fine carpet on the ground.

And in the past few days, yes, nights in the 40s. Mornings with polar fleece jackets, and certainly, shoes instead of flip-flops.
As our remarkable earth does turn, and time passes and flutters inimitably along.