November Song

November slips in on tiptoe,
The shy sister to October's blaze
And December's daze.
Bare branches without snow.

Harvest gathered, fields at rest.
As night falls early with a hush,
My heart turns from my daily rush
And whispers I am blessed,
I am blessed,
I am blessed.

 October Song

 

The colors of October
Blur on the distant hill.
Orange, red and yellow
Stirred together until
They fade to muddy green,
Waiting to be seen.

 
 
It's only when I draw close
That I hear the palette sing.
Each leaf a grand finale
Of the show begun in spring.
My heart fills with the tune,
Over too soon.

Back from the future

I'm a time traveler.

This summer I spent too many moments in the future, wondering what this fall, this winter, next year, the next five years will hold. Not that I can make any impact there---I wander through those tomorrows like a ghost, unable to grasp anything.

Today summer's haze lifted, and as I walked through the dry, cool evening I came back to the present, to the moment. I listened to the cows in the pasture across the road and the crickets chirping in the tall grass on the shoulder. I saw the mountains in high definition, covered in the green tweed of countless trees. The wind picked up and the rustle of leaves made me long for autumn even as I know she's approaching.

Sometimes the road leads you home.

The world has been on fire this week.

The death toll from an earthquake in Nepal continues to grow.  Iran is testing its boundaries in the Gulf of Aden while refugees flee Libya in overloaded ferries.  And in Baltimore, just a couple of hours away from my home, rioters used one man's tragic death as an excuse for assault, arson and theft.

So tonight I'm thankful for kindergarten.

I'd had the substitute assignment scheduled for some time.  Just a half day, but my to-do list was long, and I couldn't help but think of all the items I could cross off in that three-and-a-half hours.

But a promise is a promise and so I showed up.  I thank God I did.

Singing "Days of the Week" (mix "The Addams Family" theme song with, well, the days of the week), reading about the instruments in an orchestra, and helping a group of five-year-olds write about big dogs and elephants reminded me of life's sweetness.  By the time we danced to "Happy" by Pharrell Williams I really was...happy, that is.

The world has been on fire this week, and to some extent it always will be.  But yesterday I remembered that beauty is just as present, just as real as ugliness---I only have to look for it.

And having a five-year-old's perspective doesn't hurt.