Soon

Summer has faded into autumn.  The transitional seasons are always my most treasured--though I can never be certain which is my favorite, the slow, quiet dying of autumn or the flamboyant striving of spring.  The trees are changing.  The leaves are falling.  The grass is turning.  My toes felt the nip of the morning air on my cycle to work.  Soon the geese will be in formation once again.  My hiking and camping is not yet put to bed for the season, but soon enough.  I am feeling a keen satisfaction reflecting on the adventures I had these past warm months--while still dreaming of those yet to come.  Its always bittersweet as I feel myself slowing down, falling into step with the quieting nature of things around me.  This cycle is so stupendous.  For us, Wintertime brings humble works about the home--building, sewing, drawing, baking, canning, crafting--while Summertime brings the humbling works of nature--hiking, camping, gardening, birding, exploring.  Both poles bring richness into my life beyond my imagination.  They are so different and so complementary.  Just as I am weary from the non-stop activity of summer the falling leaves signal the alarm that soon I will find myself with the hush of snow around my windows and knitting in my lap.  It heartens me, these cycles.  The birds will migrate south.  The flowers will tuck in for the long cold sleep.   And I will recharge for my own flamboyant strivings of spring.  Soon.  But, not quite yet.

All photos from a Montana Wilderness Association Wilderness Walk which I co-led along with a really cool seasonal Bureau of Land Management Ranger on June 29, 2014