Change is all around me. I look
outside and there is more than a hint of Fall in the air. Leaves are changing color, my garden is in
harvest mode, and the air is cool and damp.
After a summer of unusual warmth and
dryness, we have had some rain, and plants are reviving, coming alive again.
I turn the calendar to a new
month. Summer vacations are ending, and
there is a flurry of activities. Classes, meetings, events are happening.
Community life is coming alive again.
There are things to do and opportunities to grow.
Driving by my neighborhood school, I
see it coming alive after the summer break.
The parking lot is crowded, and families are heading inside to an
evening welcoming, celebrating the opening of school. Excited, nervous little kids break into an
enthusiastic skip as they walk into the school, parents smiling with
pride.
Their child is starting school, and opportunity
awaits. Anything is possible. I see that
in their faces, in how they walk, and hold their kids’ hands.
At the store, I navigate through the
hordes of tourists and weekenders, and I run into old friends. We reconnect, realizing we haven’t seen each
other all summer. We pause to catch up,
and reconnect, reweaving the fabric of community. This weekend marks the end of the high
season, the wave after wave of visitors who crowd our roads, and walk our
beaches and trails. Soon, it will be
quieter here, and we locals will breathe big sighs of relief, and reclaim our
peaceful moments in the places we treasure.
They, too, are caught up in this
sense of change and transformation. It
is a new season, a new beginning.
Before yesterday’s rain, I planted a
new crop of peas, beets, and radishes.
My new lettuce rows are already up.
I harvest more broccoli for our dinner, knowing that my work will bring
on yet another feast in another month.
A friend is soon off to college, and
we pause for coffee, and share his excitement for his new adventure. He’s ordered his textbooks, and is already
packing for his move to a new city, and a new school. Excitement is in the air and in his
eyes. His future is happening, and he’s
ready to grow.
All this newness and
excitement. I feel alive and
invigorated. Anything is possible. Anything can happen. I am part of that, and I am all of that.
Change. It is in the air, and I am ready to take a
deep breath, and move ahead.
Neal
Lemery
9/7/15
