People have been talking about the glorious fall weather. Although the summer was not hot enough for fans most of the time, it still feels invigorating to go dig out the sweaters and quilts. Ben looked dapper in a green cashmere this week and the twins wore their wool capes. The leaves are dancing to the
ground, and their colors are distracting enough to interfere with my focus on the road.
My daughter's friend was married recently in Vermont and no doubt the trees were spectacular. Who needs decorations when you have scarlet maples?
It is not easy to articulate what it is about the churning seasons that excites me. I guess we are creatures that
want it all... continuity and change.
Relationships walk on two legs as well... knowing what to expect and a thirst for uncertainty. Surprise me, but don't disappoint me.
How did the bride know that a ceremony in New England in October was likely to be blessed with spectacular foliage when she chose the date last
spring?
It has happened before.
I read that the time between when Pluto was discovered and when it was demoted as a planet took less than half of one revolution around the sun. It would be hard to notice a pattern in weather if the repetitions were spread out across the galaxy like that. But fortunately the sequences in temperature and
marriage come around with startling frequency.
Early marriage is often squeaky free of conflict.
When kids come people get grumpy about sleep deprivation and mashed banana on the couch.
After kids climb out of diapers, the speed really picks up and there are too many
distractions to notice if you are still in love anyway.
Then dissatisfaction arrives like an early frost. The habits that were once endearing are now annoying.
Then comes a crossroad. Some couples head in two directions, with little to hold them together but the children. Others tug hard on their relationship, finding ways to grow together
rather than apart.
It is impossible to predict with perfect accuracy what the weather will be like, or how a couple will weather it. But we do well to notice the cycles. Then we are more likely to drive up to Vermont in October, or tug on a sweatshirt before braving an autumn chill.
Because it has happened
before.
