Wheel in the sky keeps on turning

It is technically not a new year, but for me it is the start of another year. Being born in the autumn has given me an unrealistic belief that October is a time of rebirth. I look forward to the change of leaves and the cold air, feeling that I am coming alive just as everything around me begins to wither and fade. Maybe the contrast appeals to me, or maybe it's just that I don't think of bare trees as dead, just pared down and sparse. I like the transformation from brilliant greens to patchy red and gold. Here in southern California, the uniformity of the seasons can be tiring. I like to witness the cycle of change that colder climates enjoy.

There is a poem I've loved since I was a child. I keep it in the back of my mind as a meditation, or maybe a mantra--something to concentrate on in times of confusion, to remind myself that what I am experiencing is part of my life's journey, and that uncertainty is the only certainty.

With that, I present:

-------------
The Waking

I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.

We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.


Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.

Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me, so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.

This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.

--Theodore Roethke



Star of the day. . .Leanna, the friendly Avon lady
posted @ 12:42 p.m. on October 06, 2005 before | after

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She lay awake all night,

zzzzzzzzzzz......