Thoughts about life and inspiration

Joan was wondering what season got other people most inspired to be creative and it made me think. There is something to love about all the seasons, and likewise, something to dislike. Summer can be too hot and buggy but I love the warmth, the sun, the relative quiet because people go on holiday, the urge to just hang in the back yard and put one's feet up, the garden. Fall can be wet and cold but for the first 26 years of my life, it was also the herald of new adventures beginning at school. (The 26 years is not entirely accurate of course, as for the first 5 or 6, I didn't go to school. But you know what I mean.) Winter can be even colder, wet and dark but you also get the pure joy of the first snow, you have Christmas, and those crisp cold mornings when the sun sparkles on the ice and snow and everything looks perfect. And Spring can be a dreary slog through the slush but it also means the tiny new buds of green on the trees, the cardinal singing in the top of the maple, the geese honking their way home, the smell of earth unfrozen.


Mostly however, when Joan posed the question, it occurred to me that this would be my first go-round of seasons in 16 years, starting with the current Autumn, that I would be without a dog. I have always enjoyed being outside in any weather but having a dog ensures that you will be outside every day, at least three times a day. In the two weeks I have been without Rockwell, I haven't taken a deliberate evening walk once. Here it is a holiday Monday morning and I haven't been outside except to grab the newspaper. And it is stunningly beautiful out there. We plan to go for a bike ride a bit later, when it warms up a little more and that will completely satisfy the urge to be outside. But I wonder if I shouldn't maybe take an evening walk as I used to, every night. It's a great conclusion to the day and it's quiet out there - time to think and reflect on the day. You see what stage the moon is in, you feel the wind, you sense the coming weather. Orion always appears in the sky at this time of year and I haven't noticed him yet because I haven't been out at night. Is night my favourite time of day? No, I think early morning is. But maybe I think better at night, as if all the thoughts that were swirling around in my head all day start to come together and make sense.

Daily walks with a dog make you notice what the dog notices - the blowing leaves, the squirrels, a whiff of scent on the breeze, other dogs - everything is a bundle of potential. For the dog, the potential is either for something to eat or something to play with. What more could a dog want, really? For the human, the potential is more complex but still, filled with exciting possibilities. The best part of life, I understand now, really is the journey. It isn't arriving because what do you do then? You look for something else to do, some place else to go. Enjoy the journey because that is what life is.