This morning, I woke with a start…I was somewhere else, in a small house with a front porch, screened-in, and on a quiet street in a small town wearing a printed housedress, sweeping the steps. I was happy. It was a visual assembly of people and places from my long ago past. The house was my grandmother’s, the one I recently wrote about, and the printed housedress was my memory of Miss Sue, someone who meant ‘the world’ to me. I was my current age, and it was a beautiful sunny morning, I seemed happy doing a small chore.
This dream, I believe, was the manifestation of my recent thoughts, thoughts about my next ‘chapter’. Contrary to this dream, I currently live in a somewhat large house, the wonderful place we have raised our family and lived for nearly 40 years, and there is a good amount of property to maintain with a lot of trees and small animals and a garden. This place has been a source of joy for me, it has been, and remains, my retreat, a place to go to be with nature, but I can foresee how, as time goes on, it may not be so ‘wonderful’, hence the dream.
I suppose many of us in this stage of life have similar thoughts and concerns. We built this house and developed this property when we were young, never expecting to be old, never thinking about the hindrance it could become, only thinking of the dreams and visions we had and the joy it would bring. I planted shade trees and fruit trees and made gardens and flower beds. I raised chickens, kept bees, built a red barn, and raised five beautiful children…so much happiness came from here. And I am still happy, but Father Time is lurking, and I am reminded.
But, in the meantime, in my awakened state, it seems my summer routine is emerging…getting up to see the end of the night, to hear the night birds quieting down and the noisy shrills of the morning birds warming up their voices, while looking for a mate. After a cup of coffee, the sun is rising and the natural world is glistening. My garden is its most beautiful…being warmed by the morning sun, the fresh rays that give life, and the light that gives glisten. The dragonflies are soaring, and the green lizards are fat and hiding beneath the green leaves of my flowers, coming out as I pass by, lying in the sun, waiting for breakfast. It is a freeway of sorts…so much movement and calming noise…morning is breaking, and I hate when I must miss it. xo p.s.
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