How Can It Be Fall Already?

You know, it really is true that time seems to pass much more quickly as we age.  Perhaps the hours drag sometimes on individual days, but seasons have a way of slipping away at an amazing speed.   One of my life goals has been to stay in the present moment, but doing so is very hard and takes almost constant vigilance.  My tendency is to forget to be vigilant.

It seems to me that it was only yesterday that spring came and, where I live in Illinois in the US, buds began appearing on trees and grass began to grow.  I had the whole summer to look forward to, and I was completely involved in the things that would go into my garden this year.  I suppose that I like spring and fall best of all the seasons.  However, in spring, I have summer and fall to look forward to.  Now that it is fall, there is only winter ahead.  I know there are enjoyable aspects to winter, but I rather dread it overall.

Do you think it is part of the human condition to want perfection?  I want San Diego's climate without the crowds and earthquakes.  Oddly enough, as my husband and I approached retirement, we looked around for a place to which we might wish to retire.  We considered Portland, Oregon and parts of the Carolinas, but we found something wrong with every place we looked at and wound up deciding to stay put.  After all, when it snows and turns very cold, we can just stay indoors.  Our roots are here; yanking them up would be painful.

So here I sit, vowing to enjoy the fall while I have it, but knowing I will fail to fully do so and that winter will soon be upon us.  I tell myself that I can only do the best I can.  But as soon as my clothes are finished drying, I swear I will go and sit outside and appreciate the look of the leaves on the trees before they, too, are gone.