I have been on the computer a lot lately. That is how it goes when your life is job hunting, applying for jobs and writing. I try to take myself away from the computer throughout the day, but lately I have been finding myself in front of it more often than not. Through the window, or when I rush off to pick a family member up from work, or on my way to or from a friend's house, i notice that the season is changing in the trees, but since it is still hot enough to wear sandals and tank tops, I find myself becoming a bit indifferent about the weather. More sunshine. I notice myself not noticing the details of the shift in season. I hear my (charming) self answering "no" when family members ask me whether I have noticed a change in the smell of the air outside.
Every now and then I will stop and look at the trees, and think to myself: how is it possible that they are changing colour and losing their leaves when it is still so warm outside? Canada has effectively spoiled my lifelong distaste for any cloud that dares interrupt a perfectly blue sky, it seems. Where are the CLOUDS, I say to the sky when I roll up the blinds and sunlight pours into my bedroom at the end of October. I have to smile. My non-hockey playing friends back in Canada would kill for weather like this.
I may have become a bit of a weather Scrooge. Maybe it is time for me to slow down a bit more like I did two days ago when I trashed the entire kitchen trying to make homemade almond milk (for the record, it is DELICIOUS, and my nails are slowly healing -- but has anyone come across an almond peeling device? ). Maybe in order to tune into the shift of season I need to take more walks. I haven't taken a walk in over two weeks. I know. Awful. Not like me at all. I am glad it is Friday. I have been working on a job application all week that I finally finished this evening. Maybe I will take a walk this weekend. Crunch through some leaves. Notice the (uber) subtle changes that characterize the shift of seasons out west. Make peace with my outer landscape. Tomorrow is Saturday. The newspaper says it promises to be sunny yet again. Maybe I will take a walk under that irrepressible blue sky and watch the squirrels collect nuts. Maybe I will lie on my back under a tree and watch leaves falling. Maybe I will collect a few and bring them home.
How do you tune in to your outer landscape? How do you slow down and bring your own rhythm into sync with the natural world around you? Enjoy your weekend, friends!
i pay attention to details: the lizards that bob their heads up and down and then scurry away if you get too close; the baby chicks that are everywhere following their mamas; the plastic saches that are stuck in the dirt roads as i walk; the little bugs that are always finding their way onto our screens or in our home; and the babies on mamas backs that sleep to the rhythm of walking.. everyday i find myself staring out the window at some point to see how my 2 neighbors live. the one adjacent to us has 2 shack-like houses in a big plot of land that is occupied by an unfinished house of cement blocks without a roof -- inside these open rooms are where clothes are washed and hung. i see flip flops left outside the door and can observe the development of their crops that are growing. the other neighbor is beyond this one & is a hub of activity -- they have a big family and everyone is always busy. they grow a lot of food; they have a washing area for themselves behind a tall cement wall. i like how they sell goods, how they play soccer, and how they are very productive without electricity or running water. this is how i slow down and find myself being present. :)
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