Circles and Cycles

The more things change . . . the more they stay the same.

Have you noticed?

I think the change of seasons has put me in a reflective mood. Or maybe it's that I'm writing a flashback this morning to when a now older man first went to war.

Whatever.

Seasons change. In July we forget about the snows of January. And in February, its hard to believe the ground will ever be ready to plant sunny flowers. But in February, the days slowly lengthen and one day - like magic - it's warm.

It's Wednesday as I write this. Monday our temps here in Sunny San Antonio were mid-90s. We've been in an extreme drought situation for a year. On Tuesday it rained. All day. Lovely rain. Today we have 60s.

It won't last. We'll be back to 90 by the weekend. But fall arrived on schedule.

Circles and cycles are all around us, not just with seasons, like morning follows night.

Politics. Fashion. Books. You name it.

Individuals, whether politicians, designers, writers, or others, put unique stamps on each cycle, but the full circle comes around again.

Take fashion. Hemlines go up and down and up again. The look goes from structured to loose and flowing. From sleek to layered. From simple to intricate design.

The same with our lives. Our rainy days allow us to appreciate the sunny ones all the more. When we slam our fingers in the car door - and yes, I have done that, but not recently - we know eventually we'll be able to move them again.

So smile. That light at the end of the tunnel might not be an approaching train after all.

Comments

Elspeth Futcher said…
Truer words were never spoken! I try to remember that 'this too shall pass' but sometimes it's hard. As for fashion, I hold to be true what I heard some expert say: "If you wore it the first time around you're too old to wear it this time around".

I've enjoyed the summer - and we've had much higher temperatures than normal up in my little corner of the world as well! (I'm near Vancouver, British Columbia). I look forward to cool fall days...but know grey November is coming.

Elspeth
Helen Ginger said…
Things come and go. Summer is here one day, then it's Fall for two days then back to Summer (at least that's our season schedule in TX, it seems). The only thing that lasts for long cycles is home repairs. Your TV quits. You get another, then your water heater starts leaking, the the a/c won't shut off, then ... That's a cycle I would like to break.

Helen
Straight From Hel
Carol Kilgore said…
Elspeth - I think you're right about the fashion. It's not designed for what my body has become. We can dream about summer after Christmas.

Helen - Everything goes at one time in our house. Or so it seems. As long as we have air conditioning I can deal with the other.
Angela said…
In my world we never reach 90s at all, with our gentle sea breeze blowing most of the time, but we had a lovely summer and could go swimming in the Baltic Sea a lot. Now as fall is here, our apples and pears and plums are ripe, the sunflowers still glow and the trees have all their leaves. And yet...you feel and smell it. Soon the time of short days and long nights will be here, trees barren, nature sleeping. There is a beautiful poem by Rainer Maria Rilke, maybe you can read it in a translation? It begins:
Herr, es ist Zeit, der Sommer war sehr groß.
Leg Deinen Schatten auf die Sonnenuhren, und auf den Feldern mach die Winde los...
(Lord, it is time now, it has been a large summer.
Lay your shadows on the sundials, and on the fields let loose the winds...)
and it ends:
Wer jetzt allein ist, wird es lange bleiben,
wird wachen, lesen, lange Briefe schreiben,
und wird in den Alleen hin und her unruhig wandern, wenn die Blätter treiben.
(If you are alone now, you will remain so for a long time,
you will walk down the alleys restlessly, while the leaves are being blown about)
Thank you for reminding me that it is all part of a circle.
And thank you for your comment on mine!
I live in a place where it’s always summer, so the change in seasons is hard to detect. But I do agree with what goes around once will certainly go around again. If only I’d saved my wardrobe fom the 60s and 70s!
Carol Kilgore said…
Angela - I'll search for the poem. One day I hope to visit your corner of the world. When I do, I'll probably need a sweater in summer, since ours this year pegged over 100 every day.

Jane - We're a Coast Guard family and spent some time in Miami. I loved it, but seasons are nice, too.

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