Monday, September 04, 2006

Ruah

The air has changed.

Yesterday I went for a walk with my dad, a good 40-minute walk up and down hills, and hardly broke a sweat.

Today we turned off the air conditioner and opened all the windows.

The wind is blowing. The air is fresh.

I feel like I'm coming alive again, after a long, hot summer that had just about worn me out. "Dem bones gonna rise again."

Who knows? With this new energy, maybe I'll start writing more often and even finish the Croatian Chronicles.

That remains to be seen. The important thing is that the wind is blowing, the air is moving, and my spirit is rejoicing in the promise of autumn. Living in the South, fall is my favorite season. And the past two days have been like a sneak preview. Summer will not last forever. We can breathe again, and sit on our porches again, walk our dogs again, and enjoy being outside again.

The air has changed.

It reminds me tonight of a passage from my favorite, G. M. Hopkins, after he describes how man with his industrialism is messing up the earth. (And though I'm not yet convinced of the scientific basis for the global warming theory, I know our asphalt and cutting down of trees makes summer much worse....)

And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs--
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

When the weather changes like this, it reminds me of football season. I'm not sure why, it just does. Soon the leaves here will be turning colors. It's beautiful when that happens.

Sheila said...

Yes! And it still makes me want to go out and buy new notebooks, pens and pencils, and start reading a new book. Those rhythms of life seem to be pretty deeply engrained.

Lawrence Underwood said...

I can't wait for the cooler weather. Well, it was cooler today. It only went to 89 and the humidity wasn't over 80%.

I, too, love autumn. It is my favourite season and the summer to fall is my favourite turning of the season. There are so many things to enjoy: the evenings, the colours, the football, warm beverages, walks in the cool air, the flights of waterfowl, the anticipation of hunting season, and on and on.

For some reason fall brings with it the insatiable desire to scour L.L. Bean catalogues for new jackets, boots, and other necessary gear.

Sheila said...

Well, the fresh air has not made me write any more, has it? But it feels WONDERFUL! My energy lately has gone into more piano playing than writing....