“This moment is only going to happen once.” -Page Pelphrey
I’ve been getting that message in various forms lately. We all know this in our heads, but that’s not the same as living by it. I don’t know about you but too many of my moments have floated by unnoticed, while I hurried about mundane daily tasks, or plotted what the next moment would hold.
I’m not a quick study. The Universe has to hit me upside the head several times to get my full attention. Perhaps the required slowdown of a long winter helped, or maybe everyone faces these realities upon reaching a certain age.
Moment by moment, I’m managing to be fully present for more parts of each day, and while it’s true that moments only happen once, I can pull up memories of past ones, congratulate myself on noticing the pleasures, or decide not to relive the painful ones.
An occasional balmy day has me seeking signs of spring and, believe it or not, they are out there. We now have a woodpecker. Blackbirds spend the day swinging and singing in tree tops. Skunks are on the move, and pheasants have ventured out of the swamp to see what tidbits the sun has uncovered. Mama cat is putting on weight. It’s too soon to tell, but I have my suspicions.
Seed catalogs are arriving in the mailbox, along with ads for bull sales. It’s time to sort heavies and bring them in closer to home. The yearly round of seasonal work brings me back to moments when I was aware of the moment I was living. Walking pens before the bull sale, marking my catalog for choices while knowing I’d not afford the price this one would bring. (That’s called window shopping, I think, and it’s the only kind of shopping I ever enjoyed.) Reaching in up to my shoulder to seek a tiny hoof and bring it forward to the birthing position. Sitting atop a hill in the calving lot, watching moonlight sparkle on the creek and hearing conversations of geese from the pond across the meadow. Catching the rhythm as I swung into the saddle and headed to the calving lot to match mamas and newborns and ease them out the gate.
Somehow, I never considered that moments like those would end and it would be time to move on, but I’m thankful to have been right there, right then, so I can relive them now.
But what about today? Well, I lingered in the sun to rub noses with mama cat when she came for her breakfast. Let the dishes wait while a dog leaned against my knee begging to be scratched under her chin. Laughed aloud while watching the dogs play tug of war with a toy. Savored the taste of a homemade cinnamon roll.
One blessing I never take for granted is the echo of wisdom passed on to me by friends who have gone on ahead. I can still recall where I was when Lil told me to “Just say thank you!” Nearly every time we talked on the phone, Dave said, “We’ll just have to wait and see.” Karl said this one often, but the first remembrance was when we sat around a table with a group of friends and he remarked, “It’s always right now.”
Are you living right now or in “after a while?” There’s no hurry, you know. When after a while gets here it will be right now.
Meet me here next week and, meanwhile, do your best right now.