From Where I Sit

By Pat Spilseth, Columnist

Outside my window, the sky is flooded with moonlight. At 5 a.m. I feel the chill of approaching fall with its accompanying body aches. Though it’s only early September, the change of weather is invading my aging joints. I didn’t get enough of the warm summer sun; now my birthday is invading my life with another year of aging and changes in my body and moods. I’ve got to change looking at the past and look forward to something about the future.

The current political atmosphere doesn’t help. Our local elections are rife with anger and disgust. Innuendo and exaggeration are abundant in letters to the editor; election signs are being stolen; and folks are bantering about which candidate they’ll support. Others simply won’t address the current issues. It’s not only local politics but also state, national and international. It’s an unsettling time of life.

Strange, but why is it that as each new season approaches, we long for the past? Many of us do not look forward to the next year. Turning 30 is a huge milestone for some, but 50, 60, 70 and 80 are increasingly difficult to face. Today  many people are living to 100 and older! We recently attended a birthday party for a 102 year old friend. He’s as sharp as ever and his eyes are better than mine! Each new decade of life reminds us of so many unfilled expectations. Time is running out.

But is there ever enough of summer or the past year of life? How I savor these lazy, hazy days of summer, sunning on the dock above the lapping waves; hearing the loud chirping of crickets as I sit reading on the screened porch. Can we ever have too much of such joyful abandon from life’s responsibilities and cares?

Summer and our youth are so fleeting. We want more…

September ushers in the Minnesota State Fair, Labor Day and the start of a new school year, gleefully anticipated by most moms, but dreaded by some kids. Already I’ve seen our maple leaves turning red and too many fallen leaves on the lawn from the wild winds of late August. It’s a bit startling to see autumn leaves of gold and blush, the chilling morning temperatures and duller, drooping gardens. By October, I’m ready for those changes, but when the weather changes so drastically in late August and September, I’m not quite ready to put away my pastel shirts and capris and get out the flannels and sweats.

Too soon it’ll be time to close windows and doors, shutting out the creeping cold; time to wrap ourselves in afghans of memories of last summer as we nudge our toes toward the warmth of the newly-lit fireplace. Soon I’ll be reading by the fire, nodding off and dozing by nine, maybe earlier. What’s happened to my energy and stamina?

Good sleep happens when I’ve had an event-filled day and a tasty, warm supper. Familiar smells wafting through the air of roast beef, baking potatoes, onions and carrots oozing out of the oven wrap me in comforting memories of my mother’s meals. Familiar odors can fuel the fastest kind of time travel speeding me back across the years. Chocolate chip cookies or baking bread, perfumes, even outdoor campfires flood my heart with favorite memories.

Fall recalls melancholy moments of home and family. It’s a rather sad, though beautiful time of the year. Fall anticipates the arrival of snowflakes and freezing temperatures, the winter of our lives. We want more warm days and balmy nights before we have to put up the storm windows and get out the quilts. Most of us aren’t content with the calendar’s pages turning to a new season. Many of us rebel against growing another year older as well as the change of seasons. Why can’t time stand still?

Wrap yourself in the blessings of the season. Make a campfire and devour s’mores, pop popcorn, burn cinnamon scented candles, bake zucchini or pumpkin bread, rake the crimson leaves and gather firewood to burn in the fireplace. Summer will soon be a past memory to treasure.

“For if there is a sin against life, it consists perhaps not so much in despairing of life as in hoping for another life and in eluding the implacable grandeur of this life.” Albert Camus, French author/philosopher’s comment on living life in the present. Life is too short; enjoy each moment.

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To contact Pat, email: pat.spilseth@gmail.com.