by Jaime Castle
I have always lived in southwest Ohio, so I have never known any differently. Each year at this time, however, fall seems like something new. Beholding the brightest reds and yellows, I think to myself, “was it this beautiful last year? Surely this year the trees are more colorful?” I can’t imagine living somewhere that doesn’t experience the sensations of the seasons changing. How do they mark beginnings and ends and transitions? How do they mark time? Fall is my favorite season with its sights, smells, flavors, and rituals as it leads us to that time of year that is darker and colder and made for bundling up and introspection. A time to think.
Time is a funny thing in that it can be so many things. There never seems to be enough of it. Hard times seem to go slower and good times fly. Children grow so very fast, yet it seems forever ago that they were very little. Time heals and time is spent or wasted or lost. Time can be a friend, or it can be an enemy.
This fall I feel like time is suspended. I want to pause things – hold on to my growing children, my aging parents, my 11-year-old cat. I know that nothing is permanent, and I know to enjoy and appreciate the now. It is hard to be fully present and filled with joy and awe when there is a sadness of knowing that the time will come to let go.
But time has been given to us – we are the lucky ones. We are here now, and we have a lot that is good all around us. Take time to find the beauty of change and in whatever time we have, may it be filled with happiness and love. Make time for yourself and for those you love. That’s something to consider and be in awe of: time is something that we can make! Make more time Friends!