It is good to stay busy, however, some days I feel as though I'm busier than I like to be. This morning I met a my friend, Mike Murphy, for breakfast. After that I attended a meeting and luncheon with retired educators in the Washtenaw County area. Immediately after that I attended my memoir-writing class. Presently I'm home taking a bit of a break before having dinner with another friend, coincidentally, named Michael, and his wife. Days like this are good now and then, but I have also learned to cherish whatever down time I may have. It is important to have some time to just be alone and get some rest and relaxation.
My writing group was fun today. We are getting to know each other as our stories reveal various aspects of our character and personality. It is a very diverse group. One person writes about her experiences as an AP English teacher, another about her childhood in England during World War II, one of the women writes about growing up on a farm in Georgia, and so it goes. Today I wrote about my trip to Iron River this summer, and my visit to the motel, now in ruins, where Gwen and I spent our wedding night. I'm glad to say that I am once again enjoying doing this.
Our beautiful Indian Summer weather continues. The two small maples in front of our house have begun turning bright red. I received this poem today, and it fits my mood:
Our Lives Pass Away
Summer sunlight
glitters on the water.
Sweet colors of fall
drift down and land
on my new woodpile.
Winter is full of snow
and cold, but inside
the woodstove glows.
Then spring again
Our lives pass away.
glitters on the water.
Sweet colors of fall
drift down and land
on my new woodpile.
Winter is full of snow
and cold, but inside
the woodstove glows.
Then spring again
Our lives pass away.
"Our Lives Pass Away" by David Budbill, from Happy Life. © Copper Canyon Press, 2011. Reprinted with permission.
Yes, our lives do pass away, Dear, and today I've been reminded by my story about the crumbling motel where we spent our first night together, as well as the bright red leaves on the maples in front of our house, that there is a rhythm and certainty to our life and death on earth that you and I now experience to its fullest. We would have enjoyed many more years together, but remorse over that can't be allowed to diminish the grace of the gift of love that we enjoyed for so many years, and how that love continues to shine in the world.
1 comment:
I just love this post John. So full of promise as the changing seasons are. I can feel a little lift in your heart at last. Drink in this feeling as you continue to fill your heart with peace and joy for the love you and Gwen shared.
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