Frost

There have been frost warnings the last two days, not that I’ve paid much attention because we did not plant a vegetable garden this year. But the news sank in and I realized this morning, as I looked into the intricate green lace of the woods behind the house, that soon it would all be gone. Half of the leaves have already turned and fallen. One solid freeze and the remaining green would turn yellow overnight. Then, with any kind of wind, all the yellow leaves would drop, leaving the brown and bare trees sticking up on the hill in the sun.

Poet Edward Hirsch spoke of the change of seasons this way:  We suddenly “feel something invisible and weightless. … It is the changing light of fall falling on us.”

Life changes quickly, faster than I want. Even with warnings, I’m unprepared and reluctant to let go of what has become familiar, comfortable, and nurturing. I don’t make transitions well. I settle into the feeling and movement of a season and expect it to stay that way. Life, meanwhile, makes adjustments every day, some large, some small, and I would notice this if I paid closer attention.

Perhaps I should wake up each morning excited to see what will be different today, instead of wanting everything to be the same.