These Fabulous Days

What a weekend: perfect temperatures, light breezes, and spectacular skies. I have never seen a mountain or a desert that moves my soul like the broad, beautiful horizons of the Midwestern United States.

It was hard to spend any time inside. The beauty of the days brought back so many memories of times when I was young, fit, and full of adventure: sharing hot summer nights in a pup tent with my dad's dog, steering a boat across open waters with the wind whipping through my hair, relaxing by fabulous camp fires under star-dense skies, dancing for hours in the rain with high school friends. Life was hard then, but never have I been so alive--in body and spirit.

I miss those days. Friends and family who shared my love of nature are all gone now, moved away or passed on. My body is tired and my joints are stiff and painful. But I am still blessed with the opportunity and the ability to enjoy a beautiful day when it comes along. I am all too aware that, as Jane Kenyon would say, one day it will be otherwise.

Otherwise by Jane Kenyon.