All Things Change

A post written almost three months ago.  Not sure why I never pushed publish...

*****

I felt it.

This morning, when the sun peeping through my blinds broke my slumber and struck panic into my heart (I forgot to set my alarm last night to accomplish some early morning duties),

It was there,

Hanging in the room:

The distinct feel of Autumn.

Though only the 18th of August,

I could not deny this morning that summer is all but over.

Part of me was sad.

Where did my carefree summer go?

Part of me was excited.

Maryland is a great place to be during the harvest and holiday seasons.

And a big part of me felt my heart skip a beat in anticipation of what I've gotten myself into this Fall.

Fast-forward several hours and I found myself listening to my husband express to his mom mild dismay at the physical effects of getting older.

She listened and then said simply, "I was about your age when I started to notice the wrinkles."

She vocalized a realization that I have unavoidably been coming to over the past several months:

The fact that time--my time--does have an expiration date.

And I am not sure if I've even started ripening yet!

The days in and the days out really do roll into months in and months out and into epochs in and epochs out.

And suddenly we find ourselves bordering Summer and Fall in our lives.

Now before you accuse me of melodrama,

I realize there is quite a bit more Summer to live.

But Autumn, it seems, threatens to come early.

And it gives me a reason to reflect on the pending harvest of my life.

Have I sown, toiled and labored enough to reap the bounty?

A rhetorical question that, of course, only I can answer.

I suppose, as mortals, we will always feel as seedlings when we compare ourselves against the grandeur of Nature, God and Eternity.

And to that end, I find the hope in realizing that all things change.