Winding down...

The summer has slipped away for a moment, the air has chilled and the breeze has picked up. Leaves are dropping silently from the trees, almost unnoticed, but for a color passing behind branches, as if a bird has flown - only straight down. I look out and think that there is golden late sunlight on the leaves of my black gum guardian, only to notice that one of his branches has shifted to bright yellow when I was not looking. I am on the front porch talking about work with a friend, when I look down and see a cicada and a large bee - one of the ones that has been bothering me during hotter nights - and they are dangerously close to each other, but in such slow motion they seem to pose no mutual threat. Slowly they spar, and the bee trudges away as if drunk - wobbling a bit, side to side. In fact, they are moving so slowly you'd almost think they could actually be reading this page of the NYT magazine, if only it were turned the other way...






Really, the air has grown cool and the season is passing, and their time here, now is coming to a close. They have no need to waste energy fighting, when living is what they are busy with. Savor the moments we have, and focus on what's important. Those big, scary things that get too close for comfort are busy with their own pursuits....