No Slow Approach

No slow approach: 

it seems that autumn started suddenly this year without summer lingering at all, temperatures dropping sharply, cold and damp for several days in a row, no slow approach to a season's change. Almost immediately it was autumn, yet without the joy of changing leaves, no sense that we've arrived here through the natural order of a season's progress. For me, the early fall is often my last time of carefree ease before a seasonal darkness sinks in, winter is long in my bones and harsh on my emotions, lasting longer than a calendar marks, the season for me is based on the length of day and warmth of sun. Winter is very long indeed. 

yesterday the season broke with true early autumn, warm and bright sun, leaves with just a bare hint of change. My every cell absorbed the sun's presence, soaking in warmth and light as if I could store it through the entire length of fall and winter. A beautiful day, one much needed and never to be taken for granted. I was deeply appreciative for the sun's presence, for the warmth it offered, and the light framing a brilliant blue sky with just a few clouds passing in its vast expanse. This was a day for me to treasure, simply being a moment completely of its own presence, timeless, offering itself without any sure definition of a season and I took it for exactly what it was - a gift. 

there really is no slow approach to a season, everything is always immediate, changing even as we bask in the appreciation of its time and presence. What we have is just this moment, whatever it offers, and there's always the possibility of a winter's touch or a sunlit instant of warmth. It's all a gift, every point within these changing seasons, and to feel anything at all is to be alive, recognizing the immediacy of the present moment without resistance to it's offer. That's the gift, simply being present, aware, alive. 

with no slow approach to reach this moment...

I embrace only what's offered. 

thankful for its gift. 

that I am...present, aware, alive. 

~

Peace, Eric