I am getting that restive feeling of being ready to move on to something new for work. Nothing has presented itself that is a specific pointer on this path, it is more a wondering what else is out there. There are things in the works that have not yet revealed themselves, so I am being patient and open to what is unfolding. As so I wait and watch for the opportunities that will appear.
Now that fall is well underway, the year seems to be spinning away quickly. This does not feel right to me, but the whole year feels as if it has been too short. The frost has not come yet, but it will, the sun’s warmth doesn’t last as it did in August. Now it is the days of heavy dew, crunchy leaves and cooler nights. That is how the year passes, one season showing as another fades back to await its turn next time around.
These days it is all about fall color, which is just starting to turn here in my neck of the woods. We haven’t had a frost yet, not even the lightest one, so the real burst of color is yet to come. There are hints among the trees, and the swamp areas have already started to drop their leaves, becoming back scratchers against the sky. The nights close in early and are inky black causing confusion as to what time it is. I need time to adjust to this season, but by the time I seem to have it in stride it is nearly winter. I need less time to adjust to the changes as spring creeps in. There must be a reason for that.
What do you glimpse from behind your curtain?
From your chair by the window.
Do you see the world go by from your perch?
The circus of life passing by.
The dramas played out on the sidewalk below,
the seasons changing like a backdrop to it all.
This is the shot for October in this year’s calendar. I have passed this spot many times over the past couple decades, and it looks the same year after year. I wonder who chose to call this spot home originally. Surely it was heavily wooded, so haw could they guess what the lay of the land really was. There is a pond off to the left out of the image which no doubt was a draw. There was no paved road though, leading to civilization and industry. It was the woods, the mountain and the land, and a lot of work to turn it into the farm it would become.
I am weary of the locked mindset so many people are exhibiting on both sides. They are caught in the tyranny of their own entrenched ideas, sure if they waver even a bit to consider another viewpoint or possibility they will die. Unwilling to dial back the rhetoric and see that all sides bear responsibility for the wrongs visited on fellow humans, and all sides share the blame for the current state of affairs. No political party is filled with all upstanding, civic minded, unselfish members. No political party is filled with all narrow minded, selfish, boorish members. Both parties have their fair share of scoundrels willing to do whatever to advance their own position and career, to line their own pockets and those of their cronies. Power, and the laser focus on having it, creates a volatile mix of fear, greed and self importance that causes people to behave very badly. Much as the lack of feeling you have any power creates a dangerous atmosphere in which people lash out and act in ways that ruin communities and lives. Both groups justify their behavior as being caused by circumstances brought about by “those people”, who need to be watched carefully for any incursion.
For too long the wages have idled while the advertising has increased, giving people “options” such as leasing, HELOC, credit cards and the like to be used to buy cheap stuff they don’t need, and cheap nutritionally empty food. If we spent a fraction of what we spend on storage units and pro sports gear or stadium seats on our roads or on housing people could afford, it would be a much better use of those dollars. We are bringing about our own decay by buying into the have it now, you deserve it mentality. We are too busy personalizing our phone cases and credit cards to see what a stupid and pointless statement that is. Many are so fearful of anyone outside their income demographic or religious traditions that they feel the need to take any measure to keep them at bay. Then there are those who seem to be deliberately trying to undermine anything that they didn’t conceive.
I would like to think that cooler, calmer and kinder heads will prevail. Ones where people think and listen and reflect, rather than insist and accuse and yell at anyone they disagree with. Both sides need to take a long hard look at their behavior, the whining, the accusing, the self serving mindset that has brought things to this point.
