Monday, October 13, 2008

The Seasons...Autumn has arrived!

It's fall here in Seattle, which means beautiful changes of leaves, the immediate entering into cold weather and of course, the rain.

There is a tree outside our office window...or may it's a bush. Regardless, it is something I look at often as I am thinking about stuff. A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that it was starting to turn beautiful shades of red and orange. Then we had some rain and wind, and within two days, the top layer of leaves was gone. I was actually quite sad because I wanted to watch the whole bush turn to red.

Tonight we had quite a downpour, and I'm sad to think about what I might see outside my window tomorrow. How many more leaves will be gone?

I'm sure that I could be profound and find some proverbial connection to the cycles of our life, but I'm not really in that kind of mood.

One happy note from the rain...I've often passed people having to walk or wait for a bus during a downpour. I have often wished I was in the right lane to be able to lean out and pass them an umbrella that I had in my car. For a time, I had two sitting in my back seat. I live in Seattle, and while most Seattleites don't use umbrellas because we are rugged and strong people, we do have them available for those inexplicable downpours. I just happened to be extra prepared.

Tonight I actually got to do it. My neighbor was walking to the mailbox at the other end of the building in a strong downpour. I was on my way to pick up Eric because he couldn't ride his bike in that kind of rain...no brakes when it's wet. I saw her, and rolled down my window. She gratefully excepted my umbrella. It was awesome! Sounds strange I'm sure, but I was thrilled to be able to serve someone in that way.