The season of change is here

In my part of the world, there is that hint of the coming change of season. The night air is surprisingly cool, and the morning is bathed in a fresh, crystalline light that makes you say spontaneously, and, even, out loud, "Oh, what a nice day."

Surprisingly, as I drive about town, I spot the tips of trees whose leaves have made the shift; they are already sporting their red and yellow glory.

And my potted flowers, the object of my affection this summer, have become faded. Their stems are leggy; some of the leaves are yellowed, but how they bobbed and waved in the fullness of summer. It still makes me smile. I know my lovelies have, maybe, a week left before it is time to retire them for the season. That particular ending makes me wistful for the color and beauty they proffered.

Tonight, my sliding glass door is open to the night air. I find myself not wanting to go to bed. Like a kid, I want to stay up just a little bit longer and enjoy this transitional time, the prelude to the next season.

I am soothed by the voicelessness of the hour. The background stream of trucks barreling down the Interstate and the crickets with their rhythmic in-and-out lull me into a place of reverie. I could be standing anywhere on my personal lifeline at this moment. I could be that kid in Texas or the college student in New York or in my first apartment that would have, invariably, had daisies in a vase by an open window. The noises are familiar, and, in that familiarity, they are comforting.

The stores have already geared up for the fall season with back-to-school clothes, binders, notebooks, markers and the like. There are all those cute foods, wrapped in tiny, individual packages ready for small-handed little ones to take in their September lunches.

Yet, I´m not ready to gear up. Not now. I want to press the snooze alarm and luxuriate in a few more minutes in this in-between place. I like this betwixt time. It is full, brimming with possibilities. I want to slow down and savor these shifting days. I want to feel the expansiveness of time, before I have to don my running shoes and fly through the end of the year with great purpose. I still have time to snuggle into the in-between-ness of it all.

But, alas, my alarm clock is ringing, and I can´t roll over anymore. I feel the energies coalescing and swirling. There is a revving up of activities and new life.

Perhaps is the deeply ingrained cellular memory of school, which, of course, explains my inexplicable desire to buy new paper and pens. Wouldn´t you agree that September feels like the perfect moment to have a New Year? I know that Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year Festival, is usually celebrated in September. I like their timing.

But the alarm clock continues to ring … These betwixt times are full of unstable weather patterns and mark the beginning of both the hurricane and election seasons.

Parts of Florida are awash in huge rain accumulations. One resident told me it felt like five days of raging monsoons. There are communities with feet of water; dogs are paddling down watery streets like they´re in a lake, and everything is completely soaked and soggy.

The Gulf States are gearing up for the possibility that tropical storm Gustav might turn nasty and become a hurricane. I have, even, been contacted by my local Red Cross chapter about possible deployment.

Hopefully, Gustav will be a non-event, but the memory of 3 years ago, right at this time, is not forgotten easily. In fact, a friend told me that the tension of a new storm is palpable in New Orleans, and gas stations in Texas and Louisiana have put up huge signs advising motorists to get gas before the storm hits. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has expressed his hope that the reinforced levee system will hold; he, also, says the city is better prepared this time.

In India, they have experienced the worst floods in 50 years. Embankments didn´t hold back the swollen rivers, and 1600 villages in India have been lost. That´s right, 1600 villages are lost due to floods. It is reported that two million people are homeless, and scores are dead. Needless to say, there is huge concern about the spread of diseases. And, for the record, the news reports I read, blame the diversion of the river and poor maintenance of the embankments on corrupt officials. To quote the French, plus ça change…

And speaking of change, this brings to me Barack Obama´s historic candidacy for President of the U.S. From my perspective, his candidacy speaks of enormous change, and I smile at the synchronicity of Obama´s acceptance speech given 45 years later, and to the very day, of Martin Luther King, Jr.´s "I have a dream" speech. Indeed, there has been change.

And there needs to be more change -- on every level. I have to admit that the thought of the all these changes, the enormity of what needs to be fixed, is overwhelming. I want to put a pillow over my head, but my alarm clock keeps ringing.

It´s time to get up and take my Best Self out into the world. I have a dream, too.

copyright 2008 by Adele Ryan McDowell