TDAT

The Day After Thanksgiving.

Driving through the Alexander Valley the day after Thanksgiving, the vineyards reminded me of athletes in the locker room after a big game. Those vines played hard this year; sprouting new canes and grape berries in spring, ripening fruit in summer and being harvested in the fall. Entering into winter they're buck naked, ready for a shower (please let it rain) and a well-deserved rest until next year when they play the game all over again. 

I was thinking about our own cycle of life while sitting around the Thanksgiving table the other night. With growing children and aging parents, time seems to pass forward and backward at the same time. We just love the kids in our lives, and we don't see them on a daily basis, so because of their growing bodies and evolving personalities, it's like being with new little people every time we see them. I find that I'm never quite ready to lose who they were last, so am always strangely surprised at who they become—taller, more communicative, more capable people, charging into their futures.

On the other end of the cycle are The Elders. Same thing. While they deepen into aging bodies and minds-in-flux, their personal dreamworld brings their past into the present, blurring the edges of realities. Each time we're with them we also never know who they will be next—a little frailer, a little more confused, a little less capable, sinking comfortably back into their memories.

Looking at everyone around our Thanksgiving table, I felt the fleetingness of it all and I found myself asking, "What can I do? How can I slow this Time thing down?" In an instant, I heard a voice inside say, "Just surrender—have another piece of pie and enjoy the ride." 

So is that the answer to one of Life's great mysteries? 
"Minced, pumpkin or pecan" ?

As good an answer as any…
Happy TDAT everyone!