Slow Down

 I woke up this morning to snow.

Not the major snow my new state gave me last year, I'm still waiting for that sink-to-my-knees snow that blanketed the three acres around my house. 

What we have is just beautiful sun streaming down on just enough white fluffy stuff to make the trees glisten and the drive to my daughter's school this morning feel like a winter wonderland.

I wanted to just slow down, get out and take pictures.

She wanted to get to school.

So I made her roll down the window to capture some images, we were in a long car line, after all, what else was she going to do.

And I marveled.

It is a bright, crisp, clear day that is begging for us to notice her. To see her. Acknowledge her presence.

Mother Nature gives us moments like this.

The change of seasons looms ahead, it is still technically fall, and while the calendar has turned to December and upcoming thoughts of holiday gifts fill our to-do lists, it is still fall and a being.

Being present with how I am feeling, how you are feeling, for we are in this all together.

This thing called living in what looks like another holiday season marred by a pandemic that refuses to let us go until we learn the lesson they came to teach. So we must pause and notice the shifts and what they are doing to us.

It is what I did this morning when we were leaving for school. I paused. I noticed. I wanted to sit still

She told me on one of our drives the other day how she has noticed the change in her countenance when she did some slowing down. Her schedule is super hectic with senior year, college applications, cheer, cello, and just being a newly minted eighteen year old. She told me about the one thing she did to reclaim her space.

I listened attentively to how she moved one, for we have been in our new state for a year and her longing for what was once was preventing her from seeing what is in front of her. In acknowledging all that her previous life gave her, she gave it the honor it was due, the love it gave her and was able to close a door.

Flying back to her home state was not going to be something she would be doing this winter.

Laughing and enjoying her new place is in her future.

I thought of her when she said that and how we have these opportunities presented to us at every season, most noticeably during this holiday season.

Lifetime and Hallmark are giving us the non-stop sappy love conquers all hope of Christmas.

The towns around us are having lighting ceremonies and putting up decorations, choosing instead to appreciate what we are able to access and not what is missing.

Gifts of presence are being talked about more as shopping looks differently in malls. Communities like ones near me are hosting events featuring local artisans and shops, inviting us to slow down and notice what we may sometimes whip past on our rush through life.

This morning, we woke up to the first snow and we slowed down to look at her. She was giving us a glimpse of what it could be. And invited us to wonder.