My commute in the morning is about twenty minutes. I drive from Fairhaven to Fall River here in Massachusetts and I am mostly on Route 195. That drive has been beautiful for the last couple of weeks with the leaves turning.
I don’t know if I told you but the last time I was at the Corpus Christi airport I was talking with the nice lady who helped me through security with my wheelchair. She asked me where I was traveling to and I told her I was going home to Boston. She asked if it was nice there this time of year and, at the time, the leaves were just starting to change. I told her how our foliage season was just beginning and she said, “I’ve never seen that.” That made me feel so sad for her. I almost invited her to come with us! I can understand it. She was probably born in South Texas and, I assume, even though she’s had vacations she’s probably never gone that far north.
As much as I don’t like the approaching winter and even though it’s been unseasonably warm, I miss the summer days already. But I do welcome that tapestry of colors every year. It’s still breathtaking.
It has been beautiful this year but what I noticed Friday was… the leaves are gone in a lot of places! I was amazed at the number of trees that are almost bare already! We haven’t had any storms or Nor’easters but I guess there have been a few windy days.
My first thought the other day was, “I’m glad I took the time to notice.”
When I first thought about this, I wondered how much more in life this applies to besides just the foliage. I thought about the many times in life that we don’t make time for the people or things that we should. I will admit there were plenty of times when I was younger that I would be “too busy” for such things. I don’t remember what was “so important” at the time but I know I didn’t always take the time to “stop and smell the roses.”
We tend to do that don’t we?
“I’ll do it later.”
“I’ll get to that tomorrow.”
“Just let me finish this.”
“Someday I’ll……”
Then before you know it, it’s too late or the opportunity is gone.
I think I’m getting better at this. First of all, I don’t have the pressures that I had when I was younger. Heck, maybe there never was any real pressure and I just assumed it was there. How much do we put on ourselves or allow others to put on us instead of taking a stand?
My grandson has really helped me in that regard and he may never even know it. I thoroughly enjoy the time we spend together and while I have more available time now than I did when I was younger, I find myself more plugged in when I’m with him. If he wants to tell me something I put down the phone or pause the news because, whatever he needs to tell me is important to him so I make it important to me. Is it really important? Well it is to him.
I didn’t always do that with my children and I didn’t always do it with my wife. You learn I guess. At least I hope you do.
So yeah there are still some reds, and oranges and yellows to be seen on the trees. Take a minute and enjoy. And take a minute to enjoy those special moments that present themselves in your everyday lives. That project, email or TV show can wait. Those special opportunities and moments should not.
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