Each sunset makes yet another mark on the calendar of our lives. I don't want to miss a single one. -- Photo by Pat Bean
“The illimitable, silent, never-resting thing called Time, rolling, rushing on, swift, silent, like an all-embracing ocean-tide, on which we and all the universe swim like exhalations, like apparitions which are, and then are not.” — Thomas Carlyle
Travels With Maggie
As I typed the date in my journal this morning, I wanted to scream. Where in Hades has two months of the year gone already?
Time, as someone who no longer has to spend a third of it making a living, is my friend. But time, as someone who has less of it ahead than behind, is my enemy. This latter is true for both me and my dog, Maggie, who sadly at 13 most likely has fewer days ahead of her than I do.
Just the thought of losing her brings tears to my eyes. But that’s the reality of loving something. Maggie won’t be the first pet I’ve lost. And if Father Time is kind to me might not even be the last.
One day bare twigs, the next day bursting with color. -- Photo by Pat Bean
The pain of loss, however, is outweighed by the richness my feline and canine companions have added to my life over the years. I truly believe Alfred Lord Tennyson’s words: “Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” I’m sure he was speaking about human relationships, but those count in my book, too.
I was thinking on this during this morning’s walk when I came upon a patch of purple. A lilac bush – which Maggie and I have passed daily while waiting for winter to end so we can get back on the road – appeared to have budded overnight.
It was another example of how time, which once moved slow as a snail when I was a child awaiting Christmas, is now going 200 miles-per-hour in a 20 miles-per-hour school zone.
I can’t slow Father Time. All I can do is go along for the ride. Getting off and standing still is not an option for Maggie and me.
Your photos are beautiful. Such wonderful colors in the sunset. And to see flowers budding already is such a treat!
Time is a funny thing, isn’t it? The less of it we have, the faster it seems to go.
Thanks Robin. The sunset was taken just steps away from my RV here in Harker Heights. I’ll probably be gone when the willow tree leafs, but I think the pattern of their branches are beautiful, too. Keep writing … Pat Bean https://patbean.wordpress.com
Absolutely beautiful post, Pat–and truer words were never spoken. we all need to heed your message. Thank you for sharing. You are an inspiration!
Great post, Pat. As someone who also has more time behind her than in front, and who has lost her share of beloved animals, I can certainly identify. I feel that in some way I am able to actually be more “productive,” more in Life, now that I’ve gotten all that “stuff” behind me, and can actually live in the Now that’s all any of us really have. Thanks for the lovely pictures, too. Sam
Thank you for allowing me to stop by your blog and enjoy some of the wonders of nature amid the busy day.
I love nature, whatever the season…it sure does calm the spirit.
Loved the article on Waterfalls as well. Standing under a waterfall and enjoying the stark cold jetstreams are indeed a wonderful pleasure….
Here’s to you and Maggie having many more happy times together..Cathy