It is September already. School has started. The rush to can and fill the freezer is underway. Morning needs a jacket, and the evening starts sooner. I am totally unprepared for this.
Fall is my favorite season, but its surprise appearance inoculates me with the sense that it is all moving too fast and before I have a chance to really enjoy it Winter will be here with its gray, rainy skies and short-to-shorter days.
I need a plan. A commitment to pausing. I need to remind myself to take stock of the smells and tastes and joys of the season. It helps to have Boot Camp. The soreness in my muscles is a physical reminder to pay attention. I just have to transfer it to my eyes and ears and remind my mouth that these tastes are fleeting. King salmon fresh from the Columbia, sizzling off the grill; served to friends with a generous dollop of cheesy risotto. Early mornings in the hot tub, when black-capped chickadees are swarming on the red berried hawthorn tree.
Focusing on the here and now is hard. The Fall foreshadows the rush of holidays-baking and socializing, all which takes planning and thought to go smoothly. To say I am just going to be "in" the moment without considering what this moment needs to carry into the next is a hard one. But this is the only way to slow it down. Let go and fall into the moments of Fall.
