AS I DROVE THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS yesterday with the perfect blue sky that only autumn can bring and the sun that kissed the tops of the trees as my travel companions something caught my eye.
SPRINKLED AMID THE ROLLING waves of green were little flecks of a bright, burning red – the first of the autumn leaves, the scouts for the coming invasion. Soon the mountains will be awash in gorgeous waves of red and orange.
THE STUNNING DISPLAY happens in the blink of the eye. One moment the landscape is green, the next it’s ablaze. It seemingly comes out of nowhere. You turn away for one moment and the scenery has entirely changed.
THE MIRACULOUS SHIFT isn’t the spontaneous event that it seems. The leaves slowly turn, leaf by leaf, tree by tree and we are oblivious to the change until we are presented with the newly transformed vista. We are busy, distracted by the ins and outs of our daily lives. We rarely notice all the changes in the world around us. It all just slips by and we sit, unaware.
WE AWAKE ONE DAY to find that spring has passed, summer has drawn to a close, autumn is upon us and winter is close behind. There is nothing we can do to halt the process, to slow it down, to reverse it so we can change, so we can take the time to observe, to be aware, to be truly conscious in the moment as we move through the world. It slips through our fingers and by the time we try to grab it, to hold on, it is done.
SO MAYBE YOU’LL JOIN ME today in the taking of moments. We can meet in the pauses between breathes and be. Here. Now. And not allow autumn to pass unobserved into winter.
Kisses & Chaos,
Alli Woods Frederick
images :: ©2013 alli woods frederick. all rights reserved. ::
