Rain
This morning the rains came. My jacket was moistened by big drops as I hurried across the parking lot. A slash of white lightening fell in the distance, so far away that I did not hear the thunder. The arrival of the spring rain is a reminder, that time is passage, and that we are taken care of by the Earth. Nature is our home, our mother. The dark earth, the warm sun, the rain have a secret. The secret is life. We understand much about life. But we cannot explain its secret, how it begins and how it endures.
Yesterday I plowed into garden the horse manure that I spread on the surface of the ground a few days ago. Standing behind the gas powered tiller, I thought of my mother and father. My father stood behind a similar machine, doing the same work. As long as he was able he enjoyed this good work: preparing the ground for planting, then placing the plants properly spaced and gently covering tender roots with moist earth. For him this was a sacred duty, a prayerful activity, a work of faith.
There is no end in sight. Those words came across this mornings newscast in reference to the Kilauea volcano on the island of Hawaii. Yes, the end of most things is not in sight. Learning to accept that is the secret of adulthood I think.
One thought on “Rain”
As we all muddle through the end of one season and the beginning of another we are, as you noted, aware of the passage of time. ZIP! Spring seems to have barely tapped us on the shoulder yet the daffodils have already come and gone, their bright yellow musings now brown as their leaves soak in the nutrients to sustain their bulbs for another year. As age trudges through our bodies, we seem to be acutely cognizant of the relativity of time. Our days appear shorter as they gallop past us while our feet do the opposite, our gait slowing to an eventual shuffle. This is how it works and always has worked. For those of us lucky enough to have lived into older age, we take this as it comes. Perhaps not in a celebratory manner, but if all goes well, we enter this time of life slightly wiser. At least I hope we do.