Stay in Your Shoes

We can only hold handfuls of life at one time.”

Nadia Bolz-Weber

             

Halloween is barely over and the stores are full of Christmas. This sends several messages, none of which are wise advice. There will be ample time for planning ahead after we have thanked a veteran, thanked our Creator for this bountiful earth, thanked our friends for having our back, and made a daily list of things to be thankful for.

Having just survived not just months, but years, of political campaigns, we are more than ready to settle calmly into ordinary, day by day life. For just a few weeks before the hullaballoo begins, how about?

 Nature knows about this. Fall is slow-down time; a gradual transition to prepare, and think about survival. My cousin, Pat, notes that if we pay attention to the critters that share our space they have stories to tell about taking time, noting the changes ahead, and deciding how to meet the challenge of new seasons. Birds migrate, muskrats build snug houses, and animals put on winter hair or hibernate. It’s not just the critters. Trees shed their leaves so branches won’t break under the burden of ice and snow. Wind piles those leaves in flowerbeds and around trees to protect the roots from winter.  Plants go dormant, and even the sun goes to sleep early. It’s only foolish humans who increase activity, play more sports, plan more parties and gatherings, and then wonder why we catch every bug that roams though warm and crowded spaces looking for victims who are stressed and over-tired.

Our seasonal mantra is “more.” More shopping, more food, more celebrating, more travel. A handful of anything is pretty small, so a handful of life is probably what fits comfortably into a single day. I forget this. You do too, and when we outrun our headlights, it generally ends up in some kind of wreck.

We live in the meantime, not the sometime.”

Ivan Doig

 I usually end this commentary with “Meanwhile, do your best.”  Christmas will come sometime. When it’s time, but the time is not yet. So, live in the meantime, be aware of what is in your handful. There’s likely some treasure there that you may have overlooked. Stay in your shoes.