'tis the season

halfway though 2014 is a good place to review your word for the year. my word is season.

this is the season we are in:
the season where I stay put and everyone else
comes to me
because home is too much work to leave,
especially when the work is finally
beginning to pay off.
(we had a potluck last week--30 kids and
34 adults--and I hung pictures on the wall
ten minutes before the first guest arrived.
four years in this house, but
the season for settling has only just arrived.)




this is the season we are in:
the rainy season, even though it is really
always rainy here.
I've just never had to pay such close attention,
I suppose. "when will papa be home?"
let's check the sky for clouds.

this is the season we are in:
the season of bug bites and briar scratches.
I have the legs of an eight-year-old
and my children are catching up.
this is the season of almost big kids
where we can hike
and jump off rocks
and slide down waterfalls
with independence in the air.
this is the season of playing together
rather than just playing along.
we are almost there.

this is the season we are in:
change comes slower than I would like,
at least the changes I thought I wanted.
life around us buzzes with other people's news of
new babies
new jobs
new places
new ideas
but I am frozen in place amidst the swirl of new
and that itself is new to me.

this is the year of season: rhythm and time frames and "this is not forever." to season is to make something suitable for use, to flavor. the timing, the intensity, the flow of life: it is all here, all in fullness I haven't seen before.