In the early hours of the morning I wake to mist rising off our pond and slowly, my favorite crimson oak appears. Little boys used to take those leaves, rakes in hand, making piles to conquer. They are gone now, scrambling up the halls of academia and I am left with the silent tree. Emotions lie hidden under the fog of day to day life, but there is a haunting sensation that as the mist burns away their stark beauty is revealed. Do I have the courage to face the changing tree each morning? Grieiving loss is one of those challenging life skills. In the fourth century John Chrysosotom said,
"Let us mourn, therefore that we might rejoice, for here there is no unmixed joy."
Beautiful imagery, it really captures my own mixed emotions as I face another Fall, leaves falling, remind me of "leavings" in my own life, a time to revist the grief of loved ones who have gone from my life, the passage of time as I enter my Fall season of life, yet as the leaves fall, there is more space among the branches and between the trees, prehaps a time now to see things more clearly or in a new light?
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