PotW 9/19/12

Hi Everyone-

Fall officially arrives a bit late this year---a few days from now on the 22nd.  But already, the sun has become a bit more golden, a few leaves have started to turn, and there is a decided chill to the air in the morning.  It's hard not to like Fall.  From fresh, crisp apples, to the smell of wood smoke in the air, to the glory of changing foliage, it is a feast for the senses.

I took my parents on a walk in the woods the other day.  It's a walk I've done before with a good friend.  There are a couple of trail choices/loops.  Neither one overly long.  Both encompassing a steady rise in elevation that rewards you with a beautiful view of the water, a solitary island, and treetops for as far as the eye can see.  We stood where the trails split, bathed in dappled sunlight, breathing in the smell of decomposing leaves (I like that smell...do you?).  We talked about the features of one trail as compared to the other.  I looked about and noticed the yellow leaves of a few beech trees---which always seem to be among the first to change--harbingers of the beauty to come.  And into my mind, unbidden, came floating the words of my very, very favorite poem.  I'm sure you know it, but I thought I'd share it with you.  

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

-----Robert Frost

A perfect poem for Fall, I think.  About the passage of time and our place in time.  About pausing to make careful, meaningful choices.  About following your heart and being true to yourself. And although there is some sense of regret in the poem--a sense of time lost and a bit of 'what if?', I always get the feeling that the last line is the expression of a positive, satisfied person.  I think Fall is like that.  A bit sad,  yet pleasing.

Anyhow---The Piece of the Week is Fall appropriate, also.  Check it out on the website, link below my signature.

Kim

Two Willows Jewelry

http://www.twowillowsjewelry.com

PotW 9/12/12

Hi Everyone-

Well, the Bear is off to school and all seems to be going well so far.  Mind you, he started off with a very generous head-start in the habitation-readiness department, thanks to a heavy assist from his very 'helpfool' Mother.  The cupboards are fully stocked, the freezer is packed, and should a sudden, rogue September snowstorm hit Farmington, he can hole up and survive for at least a month, I figure.  I sleep better at night knowing he could weather such an event.

Having seen him cook very few things while living here at home, I have been wondering if all that food would simply lie unused while pizza boxes and McDonald's bags pile up in the trash.  Happily, such is not the case.  Not every night, mind you, but more than a few times since the Bear took up solitary residence, he has sent photographs of "tonight's dinner".  To our joint parental surprise, there has been a vegetable in every picture, and I am not just talking about ketchup, Ronald Reagan.  

One night, there was even a salad.  With italian dressing. 

When I recovered from the shock of seeing a salad dressed (drowned) in something other than Hidden Valley Ranch, I realized that I didn't buy him any lettuce or tomatoes or italian dressing, which meant that he must have gone to the grocery store and bought them himself.  But even though I recognized the plate as his, and recognized the placemat as his, I ran the photo through a photo-shop checking program to make sure it hadn't been doctored.  Kids are pretty tech-savvy these days, after all.  When it came back as authentic, I damn near fainted.

It hasn't been all gold-medal accomplishments and personal bests, of course.  I did get the "Mom.  I just turned on my oven and it smells funny" phone call.  When I asked how it smelled, the reply was "hot".  Hmmm.  Evidently, ovens are only supposed to smell like banana bread, lasagna, roasted chicken and apple pie like they do at home.  You know....the magic self-filling oven that I have that goes with the self-filling fridge I mentioned a few weeks back?  

Some of the panic calls are endured with motherly patience and addressed with the calm voice of experience.  Better that he ask about the oven making a funny smell than ignore it and burn down the building, I figure.  But the text from Physics class saying "I need a pad of graph paper."?  Not so patient a reply: "Go to the bookstore and buy one."  As my parents used to say when asked to do something I was perfectly capable of doing for myself: "What, do you have a bone in your leg?"  

I need to start using that one more, I think.  Probably should have been using it for a while now.  Bring on the Mother guilt.  

Living on his own will be a crash course for the Bear, but already he is discovering his innate ability to become self-sufficient.  Withdrawal of help, as in nature with real Bears, is resulting in an awakening of the survival instinct and an increase in attempts to self-help.  It isn't nature VS nurture.  It's nature AND nurture.

Everyone grows up eventually.  No matter how hard the statisticians try, we cannot all be plotted on the same curve.  Our paths are different, none are linear, our experiences all unique.  Life is not a race to the finish---we all finish, eventually.  The trick is to find a path and fellow-travelers that make you happy.  And then, simply, enjoy the journey, discovering new things about yourself along the way.

It's what I hope life holds in store for the Bear...and the rest of you, too.

Until next week--there is a new PotW on the site.  Link below.  No particular tie-in to the message, but check it out anyway!

Kim

Two Willows Jewelry

http://www.twowillowsjewelry.com

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