CIRCLES OF TIME

 

MAYAN CALENDAR, ROCK PETROGLYPH & APPLE ICON

I stumbled across this very apt definition of a circle of time long ago that “A circle is the reflection of eternity which has no beginning and no end.”  Consequently, ancient petroglyphs left etched in deserts and on all manner of rocks have survived over time indicating that mankind has related to circular concepts ever since our beginning.  They've been found in a multitude of burial mounds, possibly symbolizing the immortality of the spirit.  Even the ancient Mayans created circular long count calendars.  I mention this because after upgrading my iPhone recently, I discovered that it was necessary to unpair my previous iPhone from my electronic watch before it could be paired with my new one.  And somewhere in the process, I somehow managed to lock up the watch before I had finished the transition.

After spending too much time for even a retired person, I relinquished and called Apple’s Support line this morning.  Thankfully, the young woman that took my call was not only knowledgeable, but patient with my generation.  We had an amiable conversation as she walked me through a series of steps which I would have never maneuvered on my own.  As we neared our final destination to releasing the shackles on my iWatch, a wheel miraculously appeared on the screen and began a slow progression of turning on the wheel’s outer lights. The system was illuminating instructions being issued and completed to restore time back into my unstructured life.

 The circle was reminiscent of the Settings icon that Apple uses and the outer lights on the circle were slowly moving to complete this circle of time.  I’ve always had a fascination with circles and the 1972 release of the Harry Chapin song “Circle” immediately came to mind.  My technical support person had tapped into my iPhone for the fix with my permission and I mentioned the animated circle on my watch reminded me of Harry Chapin’s lyrics that

“All my life’s a circle,

Sunrise and sundown,

Season’s spinning round again,

the years keep rollin’ by.”

There was a long pause on the other end and my smart, young, support analyst remarked that she didn’t know that song or Harry Chapin.  I did some quick math in my senior brain and surmised that the song was released 50 years ago.  So, I suggested she Google the title later just as the long count circle of time was completed.  My watch sprang to life and we parted amicably as I promised to give her a great rating on the follow up survey.    

The annual seasons move from spring to summer to fall to winter as we complete one more trip around the sun and add one more candle to our birthday cake. We’re born dependent, experience childhood, grow to independent adulthood, then ease into old age and begin to circle back. Generation follows generation, one season follows another, and the years fly swiftly by, filled with happiness and tears. Only time will tell if it was time well spent.

AWARENESS

Paradox, Blue Ridge Parkway

“All through Autumn we hear a double voice: one says everything is ripe; the other says everything is dying. The paradox is exquisite. We feel what the Japanese call ‘aware’ — an almost untranslatable word meaning something like ‘beauty tinged with sadness’” —Gretel Ehrlich, The Solace of Open Spaces

I liked the quote above and saved it for a possible blog post.  And then I happened upon a photo that was just taken on the Blue Ridge Parkway of the first snow of the season.  It visually captures both the beauty and sadness of the colorful, vibrant leaves below and the quickening demise of the trees above that are covered in frozen snow.

Much has been written about all the sensory feelings which we humans associate with the autumn season as summer days seamlessly morph into cooler nights and all nature begins the process of retreating from the hectic days of growth and reaching to the heavens.  And perhaps the most paradoxical example we all observe is the withdrawing of green chlorophyl from the surrounding forests and urban trees.  Once the true colors of their leaves that have adorned them since springtime appear, people gaze in wonder at the splendid colors that begin their swan song reveal.

Autumn beckons a bittersweet melancholy as we breath in the beauty of this colorful display, but for those who have witnessed this rodeo before, we know the sad ending of loss and decay.  Once the harsh north winds begin to sail through the countryside, the leaves are torn lose from their moorings and join in a joyful dance that has a much too short run before they begin their cycle of returning to the stardust of all creation.

We become all too aware of the sweetness of life in autumn and the shortness of time for all living organisms.  But we can take heart in observing that every living organism including ourselves gets a chance at being part of the cycle, understanding that it has both a beginning and ending before it repeats with new players.    

“An intense beauty is trembling on the edge of destruction” as golden Aspen leaves quake in the cold north wind, acquiescing to the inevitable.

THE PINOCCHIO PARADOX; “My nose grows longer now.”

 

AUTUMN EQUINOX

 

EVENING SUNSET, KIAWAH, SC

"Life is the little shadow that runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset."

--Chief Crowfoot

Next Saturday marks the Autumn Equinox for this year and the first day of fall.  That implies that both daytime and nighttime will be equal as the nights will become longer than our days.  The hot and humid days of summer are waning, abdicating to northerly breezes that are cooler and dryer, a prophetic breath of autumn.  It’s a time when the sun seamlessly retreats earlier over the horizon and autumn leaves awaken to their true colors as green chlorophyl also retreats back into mother earth’s womb.  The colorful leaves wave goodbye to summer on their journey back into the stardust of all matter.

The annual seasons move from spring to summer to fall to winter as we complete one more trip around the sun and add one more candle to our birthday cake. The temperatures can rapidly go from 90 to 55 faster than spotting a speed trap!  We’re born dependent, experience childhood, grow to independent adulthood, then ease into senior citizenship and begin to circle back. Generation follows generation, one season follows another, and the years fly swiftly by, filled with happiness and tears. Only time will tell if it was time well spent.

Perhaps at this particular time of the year, all creation serves as a reminder that this life not only has beginnings but also endings for every living organism and even every material object.  It reminds us to strive to live wisely and with a positive intention so that our lives matter and we won’t squander a priceless opportunity.  The imminent fallow time of winter on the horizon reminds us to live a life that will enable us to look back on the winter of our life and not be sad because it’s over, but to smile because it happened.

The lowering rays of the sun on the evening horizon have begun their disappearing act earlier each evening.  Relentless ocean waves continue their assault on the beaches and lengthening rays render staring westward a blinding ordeal.  Ocean breezes calm down as the night cools to sweater weather.  Warm deserts and hot coffee on the ocean pier are a welcome treat after a seafood dinner and a career afternoon out in nature on the golf course.

Dark shadows silently descend on the motionless land as gentle rain drops once again quench the thankful earth.  Another circle of life has marked the earth’s passage around the sun.  And in the midst of the peaceful calm, God whispers through the stillness, “Well done, rest and be at peace; the cycle of life circles on.”

FALL HAIKU

Fall Ginkgo Leaves, Jamestown, NC

Foreboding stillness,

Smothers the evening breezes,

As nature retires.

Colorful fall leaves,

Lie lifeless below the trees,

As sunbeams pierce through.

The evening air cools,

Shadows stretch beyond real life,

As the sun sinks low.

Insect songs abate,

Wild creatures seek warm shelters,

As the seasons change.

And God’s voice is sensed,

Among all living beings,

As he whispers “Peace”.

SHIPS IN THE NIGHT

Overcast Fall Morning, Jamestown, NC

Outreach Center, Jamestown, NC

As we turn the calendar over to November, or swipe our touch screens, there is now a chill in the air as scarlet and yellow leaves gently glide down in slow death spirals around us.  The changing seasons are always a good time of renewal and preparation for new beginnings.  It’s a great time to go through the clothes closet and weed out those items that you haven’t worn this past season or probably for the past year or two.  And a thrift center is the perfect place to take them so that someone else can benefit from the bargain prices.

I burned some quality closet time this morning and filled a large plastic bag with polos and t-shirts.  Then I dropped it off at our local church thrift store.  All of this rather mundane activity left me with a warm feeling of giving back to help total strangers in their life struggles.

As I exited the thrift center to my car, I passed a man very close to my age and appearance walking out to his weathered truck with a small bag of clothing.  It was a scene from the perspective of a casual observer of two similar ships passing in the night.  One was giving and the other was receiving.  If that observer had caught us in the middle of the parking lot, only the shopping bag might have revealed the receiver and from all appearances, both strangers could have been brothers. 

Of course, we are brothers in the broader sense and hopefully the experience was equally satisfying to both of us.   

AFTER THE RAIN

After the Rain, Jamestown, NC

An early fall overnight rain renews the land that has been in full production throughout the summer. New life that has been struggling to gather strength is suddenly given a rush of energy and life giving fluids. Wilted leaves suddenly regain their vigor and form as all of nature rejoices in the reinforcement for one final act before withdrawing as the season transitions.

GRIZABELLA SNOWFLOWER

Summer Sunflower, Jamestown, NC
Winter Snowflower, Jamestown, NC

Given the choice between a Broadway musical and a PGA tour event, I’ll take the golf tickets to the corporate tent. But living with the fairer sex for forty years did expose me to some of the finer things in life which I actually enjoyed including good musical entertainment with heart touching story lines and lyrics like Jesus Christ Superstar, Les Miz, Phantom of the Opera, Evita, Annie, and yes, Cats. There were poignant moments in all of these experiences that made you stop the music and reflect on your life. It also didn’t hurt that my daughter performed in many of these musicals as a teenager and was a joy to watch.

I had one of those moments in the middle of a dark sunflower field this morning. The first major winter storm of the season roared through the Carolinas last night bringing heavy rain turning to freezing rain, sleet, wet snow and power outages. Rare claps of thundersnow issued fatalistic warnings which the natives claim will foretell another winter storm in ten days. I had previously photographed the sunflower field in the prime of summer’s golden glory and happened upon one particular sunflower on the far edge of the field that was entwined in morning glory vines that highlighted this one creation for its unique beauty.

As I later drove past the field, it had occurred to me that the blackened plants might be interesting to photograph against a white blanket of fresh snow. Once I had shoveled the snow accumulation off my driveway, I gathered up my camera gear and drove off to fulfill the promise of another photo op. Fortunately, the rising morning sunbeams were beginning to warm the road surfaces, but nature’s organic surfaces still held the wet snow that had clung to all surfaces overnight, including the sunflower field. As I began looking through the camera lens for images that might prove interesting, I slowly made my way through the frozen field. And then while scanning the bowed heads for something out of the ordinary, the very same sunflower that had caught my eye this summer came into my view finder. The image with now barren vines immediately reminded me of one of the principal Jellicles in the musical Cats--Grizabella.

Grizabella had once enjoyed a life of carefree youthful exuberance amid the tribe of Jellicle cats, but they had shunned her in her waning years. Her decrepit and faded appearance at the Jellicle Ball in the junk yard initially did nothing to raise her stock as she vied to be the one chosen to go to the Heaviside Layer and be reborn to a new Jellicle Life. But the haunting lyrics of the song she sang about her memory of better days and hope for a new restored life won them over to her side. The faded sunflower surely was alone in the moonlight last night as withered leaves collected at her feet and the wind began to moan when the winter storm rapidly descended on the Jellicle field. When the dawn came, the street lights died and the night became just another memory. A new day heralding new life had begun as the morning glory blooms had been transformed and bright sunshine revealed a glimmering pure white robe cloaked around the renewed snowflower as her memory of days in the sun lives on.

DON’T GIVE UP

Hanging On, Jamestown, NC

Early morning temperatures this Thanksgiving week hover around the freezing mark heralding the onset of winter. Free falling leaves have been spiraling down for weeks as the life sustaining sap is withdrawn back into the core of the trees. All of nature is bracing for the fallow season of freezing weather and cold north winds. And yet, as I gazed up into the naked branches of a clump birch this morning, there are still a handful of leaves that tenaciously cling to the branches. These spirits of the forest know that the race is won by those who strive in the face of adversity; those who spend themselves in a worthy cause; those who exert the greatest enthusiasm; those who know the triumph of high achievement and at least if they fail, know that if they have given life their best shot they will never be with those timid souls who will never know neither victory or defeat. They’re hanging in there and hanging on!

I love the quotation from Calvin Coolidge that I kept with me all through my professional business career. Our 30th president stated that “Nothing in the world can take the place of perseverance. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent”. It’s been said that skid row is full of talented, educated, intellectuals who lacked the prime asset of perseverance. Persistence is a great equalizer when it is applied with more grit and determination than your competitor or oppressor. Don’t give up when you have something left to give. Nothing is really finished until you quit trying. Jimmy Valvano said it best during his 1993 ESPY speech as he fought the good fight against cancer when he left us with the admonition, “Don’t give up…Don’t ever give up”!

CHANGING THE GUARD

Evening Light, Jamestown, NC

The long, golden rays of the setting sun cast a sharp contrast onto the slender trunks of a crepe myrtle tree and transparently filter through delicate strands of decorative grass. A distant chorus of crows caw a litany of curses after a hawk that had sought solace from the days hunt in the tree top canopy. A departing airline’s jet engine breaks the silence and its alien sound rises and then falls as it passes overhead, giving way to a distant drone and then silence again. Even the three crows give up their taunting and wing overhead toward their night’s secluded roost in the trees. Not a leaf is stirring amidst the soothing calls of distant insects settling into the resurgent green grasses. And in the midst of the peaceful calm of the glowing fall sunbeams, you can sense the seasons changing the guard.

The hot days of summer quietly slip away and acquiesce to the cool nights of fall. The temperature drop prompts green liquid chlorophyll to ease from the tree leaves finally revealing their true colors. Rose branches make one last desperate reach to the heavens and unfurl their colorful blooms in silent and reverent wonder. Song birds lower their singing in response to their circadian systems slowing to the rhythm of the cool ambient air surrounding them. All creation pauses and breathes a sigh as the growing season surrenders to a melancholy time of winnowing down into fallow fields and barren landscapes.

Another circle of life has marked the earth’s passage around the sun. The sky turns a clear blue grey while a trough of colder air passes, triggering an ethereal fog that settles into the low lying valleys and lakes. Spirits rise and gracefully dance on the water’s surface to herald the autumnal equinox. A brightly shining harvest moon provides just enough reflective light to enable rural farmers to gather the last remnants of the growing season’s bounty. And God whispers through the stillness, “Well done, rest and be at peace” as dark shadows silently descend on the motionless land and its muted inhabitants.