Look Ahead and Behind

A month ago yesterday it was Christmas day, three months ago Leonard came to stay with us, in three months it will be Meg and Cody’s wedding. How quickly the months go by. I trudged through the snow up the wood road yesterday. Tomorrow, I expect the snow will get much deeper as they forecast a storm coming that may be the biggest one in the last ten years. We are always looking ahead and looking behind. Sometimes I think we spend so much time doing that that we forget to look at right now. Today amid my thoughts of what was and what will be I will look closely at this day. Burton is outside attending to Caleb’s three calves and two pigs. He has his tractor running and while he waits for some repairs from last week’s breakdowns he will make do . I will get to be in my office all day after writing this entry, making the bed and putting a load of laundry in. We have leftovers from last night’s turkey dinner. It is January 26, 2015 and this day as we have been given it, will not return. It is exactly what it is and we are present in it just this one time. Of course it is shaped by the worries and concerns from days before and expectations and concerns of the days to come. Joys and experiences of the past have landed us here and we anticipate things we hope for in the future. Each present day is bookended by what is ahead and what was behind. Should we wonder why the time goes so fast when we just have to consider how we rush our days along to get to the things we see ahead. I love the cycle of one day. As I walk down to get my granddog in the morning I take my time and welcome the day. I try to squeeze all my chores into the first couple of hours so I get to my office by 10:00. I bring my lunch to my office and keep working watching the hours go by mindful of the gift these hours are. At 3:00 I walk, letting what I’ve written settle and letting ideas simmer and bubble to the top. When I get back I sometimes return to my desk jotting down the ideas that have come to me or re-reading and refining the jumbled work of the day.Then I prepare our supper meal as the sun sets and the darkness brings another flavour to the day. Contentment, comfort and rest. By the end of the day I look forward to getting into bed , reading and letting the day go, anxious to be given another one just like it if I’m lucky. So the days come with their own identity and with familiarity. Some might say boring. Not me. The gift of an ordinary day ,each day stuck between the behind and the ahead. That’s how a life is lived. I stop to look at today and be thankful.