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Consider this quote from Abe Lincoln
"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
It is that strange time of year when the leaves change and the prevailing winds around here change from the south to the northwest bringing us a taste of Canada that we don't really enjoy as much as we would a bottle of maple syrup. When I was younger Fall was a wonderful time full of hayrides and trick or treating. Now that I'm older it seems to make me nervous for the coming winter and tries to keep me in bed a few more minutes every morning.
If ever there was a time for trying to scurry around and getting those last minute outside chores done the time is now! There are always leaves to rake, the last of the garden produce to bring in and even a few of those things you may forget. I can't remember the number of times when I have been out hanging plastic on the windows as the sleet is falling. There is the garden hose to drain and put away, and a camper that needs winterized. All small jobs that usually get done at the last minute.
I went for a walk last week one early morning before work when I accidenatally set my alarm clock for five a.m. instead of six. It was a beautiful morning to walk out through the hunting area which is now on ground that my family used to farm. There in the small grove that runs along the ditch that holds the drainage tile that always provided a cold drink of water on a hot day, I found the remnants of an old tricycle long ago discarded there. I startled up a ring neck phesant while I waded through the hip-high grass, its "cluck cluck" startling me just a little. After walking around for a little while I stood by an old wooden fence post and watched the sun coming up from the east. Such a beautiful display of blues, golds and reds as the world started to creak and sputter awake.
What a joy it is that we are given each day with a sunrise. I think I'm begining to understand that more and more the past few weeks as we start to leave for work before it's light out and come home in the dark. Each day is like walking into the house at the end of a long day and turning on the kitchen light to find some kind fairy has left you a pie on your kitchen table. That would make coming home any day a joy, and if you think about it, pie and the sunrise are pretty much one and the same. Having that first surprise of the day leading you into a day that says "here you are-enjoy!".
It is up to you and I what we will be doing with that day. We can either waste it away and never quite accomplish much of anything or we can take it for the gift that it is and devour the entire thing in one sitting. For many people the new day is something that they dread a little. It's hard sometimes to be hopeful about it when there is so much in your life that doesn't seem to make sense sometimes. We work, we try, we succeed, we fail.....that is how life works. Throw in love, laugh, having faith and it makes those days complete. If I didn't have faith that the last bite of that pie was going to be as delicious as the first bite it would be hard to finish it sometimes. But if I had never tried the pie, never taken the chance on the new day, I would have never had the chance to grow as a person, to succeed; and yes even to fail.
Yeah, maybe it has been a crazy week and maybe I'm just a bit sleep deprived considering a just wrote an entire column about the fact that I'm sure pie and sunrise are the same thing. But then again...there are a few of you who will read this, and understand exactly what I mean. See you next week....Remember, we're all in this together.