There is nothing like the changing of the seasons on Atlantis. The air crisps like bread in the oven. Leaves change against the evergreen backdrop of pine. Even the horses seem to perk at the coolness. Like everything in life, the joy will soon turn to a dreary winter. But, for at least a few moments in life, everything stops to celebrate.
I miss being young during this time. As an adult, I am too often away from home. On one hand, it is good that I am gone. Every place I travel reminds me of why I love my country. Sure, there are things we need to work on. No place is perfect. But, if I were always here, it would be easy to forget the good and focus on what needs to change.
But, alas, I still wish to be young again, when the demands of life and obligations of jobs kept me away from the appreciation of life. I miss the harvest festivals this time of year: the piles of apples and pumpkins, the hayrides and barrel races, the times when everyone stopped to laugh and play. I miss the newborn puppies playing with children in the field. I miss the sound of birds filling the trees, a mere pit stop on a long migration to warmer weather. Every now and then, I would fly among them. I couldn’t “speak” to them, but they have their own body language. It was so blissful.
Oh, to be young again. When life was not quite so complex. When the only thing that mattered was who to sit with during math lessons and who would walk next to you on the long path home. The problem with adulthood is the lack of “play” time. We need to learn to let go and laugh on a daily basis. We need to set aside worries for an evening and just be. I watch so many work themselves to exhaustion.
But, then again, I work in government, where people are responsible for the lives of their citizens. Those kids playing in the fields depend upon the treaties that are signed and the laws that are enforced. There would be no childhood without a core set of individuals who sacrifice time…and maybe sanity…toward working out the tough problems of the world.
So, I will accept the blessing of the fall. I will cherish the time I can spend reminiscing in joys of the past. I will look forward to meeting those times again. I do hope they don’t come when I am in the kingdom of Clieto. But, I will strive to make this place better now, while I am able. I will push for perfection every day, all the while thinking of the harvest and the apples and the crispness and the flight.
After all, isn’t that what life is about? Growing up in joy and bliss, working to guarantee other generations have access to their turn, and then ending life slow cherishing a return to joy and bliss? I certainly hope so.
