Today, on the fifth day of the A to Z blogging challenge I
once again find myself on the road, this time heading to North Carolina.
Evidently, the weather is as wonderful up there as it was in Florida. Maybe my
sister’s pool will even be open for business and we can once again swim in
clear water.
I can’t help but notice, with all this time on the road,
that there are a few things one experiences fairly consistently upon the
journey, especially on highways and interstates. Entrances and Exits are two of
these things. That got me to thinking about some of the entrances and exits
that I have witnessed in my life and what they have meant, how they have made
me who I am. Like my entrance into the world. I came at a time when the normal
practice was to put the mother to sleep during the birth of her child. My
mother hated missing my entrance and didn’t allow that to happen with my sister
two years later. The doctors had a fit about it. But my mother prevailed and so
was conscious for her second child’s entrance into her life. When my own
children were born, that particular practice had exited the scene and I was
more than awake for both of their entrances. Having seen my mother’s regret, I
wouldn’t have missed those experiences for anything in the world.
An exit that left a profound mark upon me was when the love
I’d cherished for six of the most formative years of my life, 13 to 19, exited,
escaped, expired. Left dumbfounded, left empty for a long while, I searched for
ways to get the young man out of my habitual needs and thoughts. It took a very
long time, longer than I care to admit (I’m stubborn, I’ve been told). But I
was lucky enough to listen to my empathetic angels when the true and only love-of-my-life
decided to introduce himself. His entrance into my life heralded a change so
profound and deep that I, even with some troubled waters over the years, bless
the day he walked into my life, changing it forever and ever.
Our children are now experiencing their own entrances and
exits of people, places and events in their lives. I watch them from a
distance, sometimes closer sometimes farther. Life is so full, rich and challenging,
I’ve noticed, when I pay attention to the entrances and exits, tiny and massive,
that abound in my life. The doors and windows that constantly open and close
each day keep my face lifted to the breeze and don’t allow laziness, boredom or
fear to stagnate my spirit.
I guess that the metaphor of the highways I now travel upon,
with their on and off ramps, is one we can all relate to. We have had exits and
entrances along our routes that have changed our directions. Paying attention
to them, giving them their due, you know…it’s a good way to know you’re alive.
Photos:
upstatenyroads.com
exit
aaroads.com entrance
This morning I woke up and looked out the window of my
bedroom onto a dream of early morning fog over the dry bed of our lake. I’ve
mourned the loss of water in it, the beauty of the reflecting sunrises and
sunsets, the birds that come to feed, the wild aspect of life on a lake. And
now, later, after I’ve been reading through some of the blogs on this challenge,
I find that there really isn’t anything to mourn. Yes, I’d like more water
again in the lake. But while there isn’t any water, there is still beauty. Nature
is still being nurtured and fed here and so is my soul. My writer’s soul finds
peace when I look out this window and behold whatever new change might have occurred
since the last time I looked.
I realized while reading different blogs that we are all
like the window and the lake. We change with the seasons, with the weather,
with life in general and our experiences, and each change brings new
perspective. I’m SO glad I’m doing this blog challenge. I am learning something
new each and every day.
