sometimes the best things are in your own back yard
"Fall is such a beautiful season. It really is my favorite time of year. But sometimes it is also the time when I feel very sad. Everything is dying. I find myself missing every person I have ever known that is gone. It is almost painful, that missing".
My elderly friend, Enid made this comment a few days ago when we were driving back from lunch. I thought she described it very well and found myself thinking about it a lot for several days after that - including a few days ago when I got up in the morning feeling very blue. It was the first freezing cold day of the year at 29 degrees. Jack followed me around the house anxiously waiting for me to signal him, by putting on my running clothes, that we would go for a run,
I wasn't in the mood to go out in the cold, but Jack's hopeful old eyes, now rimmed by white eyelashes, made me realize we had to go. I knew if I put my running clothes on I could not break my own rule "If you are dressed, you gotta go". Jack never cares if it is cold or not. Life is short for a dog and they try to squeeze as much out of it as they can. He is 12 years old and groans when he gets up or lays down. Still he is a great runner and is always eager for our run. He hasn't noticed that I have made our runs shorter and leave him home more often than I used to. He is just glad to go out whenever we can.
Fall is also my favorite time of year, but I was feeling like Enid, and missing what I didn't have anymore. This was getting me nowhere, so I said "Okay Jack, you win". Let's get our butts out there (I do talk a lot to Jack - and he is a great listener)".
We got out there in the crisp, cold air, this the first day of wearing long pants, a hat and a shirt and jacket. It didn't take long for the hint of winter smelling air to make me glad we were out there. My head cleared and I was no longer blue. I lost ten pounds of emotional baggage almost in the first mile.
As I ran, I thought of a few friends who were always unhappy. I thought of how some people really keep searching for things to make them happy - things outside of themselves - like fancy clothes, a bigger house, or a nice car - or a job that gives them more money to buy more things. I have friends who do this yet still are not happy.
Sometimes we don't recognize that the things that will make us happy are there all the time. They aren't material things. Usually they are our friends who stick by us, our dogs who will run with us no matter what, and a beautiful cold fall day that in our haste may go unnoticed. We live with so many beautiful things and experience so many beautiful moments but we often don't notice them because we are too busy being unhappy and searching for something that will make us look younger, skinnier or make us look successful.
I thought of the wizard of oz and Dorothy's quote:
Well, I... I think that it... that it wasn't enough to just want to see Uncle Henry and Auntie Em... and it's that if I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own backyard; because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with.
We have a pretty maple tree in our back yard. I don't always notice the changing leaves on it - mostly cause I don't pay attention and look. I went out one night and took a few pictures.
We look too far to find beauty and happiness in our lives. Sometimes it takes a nice cold run with Jack to make me realize how much already exists around me - despite all that we lose over a lifetime.
My elderly friend, Enid made this comment a few days ago when we were driving back from lunch. I thought she described it very well and found myself thinking about it a lot for several days after that - including a few days ago when I got up in the morning feeling very blue. It was the first freezing cold day of the year at 29 degrees. Jack followed me around the house anxiously waiting for me to signal him, by putting on my running clothes, that we would go for a run,
I wasn't in the mood to go out in the cold, but Jack's hopeful old eyes, now rimmed by white eyelashes, made me realize we had to go. I knew if I put my running clothes on I could not break my own rule "If you are dressed, you gotta go". Jack never cares if it is cold or not. Life is short for a dog and they try to squeeze as much out of it as they can. He is 12 years old and groans when he gets up or lays down. Still he is a great runner and is always eager for our run. He hasn't noticed that I have made our runs shorter and leave him home more often than I used to. He is just glad to go out whenever we can.
Fall is also my favorite time of year, but I was feeling like Enid, and missing what I didn't have anymore. This was getting me nowhere, so I said "Okay Jack, you win". Let's get our butts out there (I do talk a lot to Jack - and he is a great listener)".
We got out there in the crisp, cold air, this the first day of wearing long pants, a hat and a shirt and jacket. It didn't take long for the hint of winter smelling air to make me glad we were out there. My head cleared and I was no longer blue. I lost ten pounds of emotional baggage almost in the first mile.
As I ran, I thought of a few friends who were always unhappy. I thought of how some people really keep searching for things to make them happy - things outside of themselves - like fancy clothes, a bigger house, or a nice car - or a job that gives them more money to buy more things. I have friends who do this yet still are not happy.
Sometimes we don't recognize that the things that will make us happy are there all the time. They aren't material things. Usually they are our friends who stick by us, our dogs who will run with us no matter what, and a beautiful cold fall day that in our haste may go unnoticed. We live with so many beautiful things and experience so many beautiful moments but we often don't notice them because we are too busy being unhappy and searching for something that will make us look younger, skinnier or make us look successful.
I thought of the wizard of oz and Dorothy's quote:
Well, I... I think that it... that it wasn't enough to just want to see Uncle Henry and Auntie Em... and it's that if I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own backyard; because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with.
We have a pretty maple tree in our back yard. I don't always notice the changing leaves on it - mostly cause I don't pay attention and look. I went out one night and took a few pictures.
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| Our beautiful maple tree...and Jack |
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| and this pretty flower peaking out for one last hurrah |
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| Some of our plants look their best in the Fall - right before they die away till spring |
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