Again, Fall

With the arrival of fall comes a change in activity. A little winter preparation, a ramp up in time in the woods, more darkness, more color...change.

Things naturally come to an end and in that end is beauty. I've been struck lately that our modern concept of time is strictly linear, moving unceasingly in one direction. This fits with our ideas of progression. Older concepts consider a more cyclic approach...things coming around periodically, repetitiously; new made old made new again.

I think I can feel both- my life in the natural world is cyclic and seasonal. I feel this most in the fall and spring. In my working life, the linear concept fits more and I feel that power in those seasons that, at points, feel unending- winter and summer.

I think the cyclic view fits better when taking the big picture view of how small we are in the world- we are but a blip. When our life ends, the things that make us change forms and become something else...but they don't end. At some point they may be part of another human who stands in the same place. In between, they'll likely be parts of things that they were before, again. This ceaseless form changing smacks of renewal, of cycles, and less of linear passage. This also dovetails with the idea that the flow of the world is beyond a single person. Does a wave in the ocean mark time?

And so, as I wade into the depth of fall, I'll chase grouse, ducks, and then deer. I'll make them parts of me and one day be parts of them.

A lovely cycle I'm happy to be part of.