The Quickening

Seed time and harvest is a biblical principle. It outlines that there is a time to put seeds in the ground that gives way to bringing in the sheaves . This concept goes much deeper when we apply metaphor.

Working outdoors my entire life has been a witness to this rhythm, seasons, if you will.. The weather, the times of life, and the ebb and flow of a Tree season.

  After the cold winter with its  crusty ground, leafless trees, and shorter days, the Tree worker is eager to get back to more productive days.

   sometime long about April the days lengthen, the ground warms, and the early blossoms come. The layers of clothes give  way  to just a morning hoodie and an afternoon T-shirt.

  it is a strange phenomenon when we step on the wheel of production. It is like a time warp. We start grinding in April and wake up tired and sweaty sometime in August. The forelorn melancholy of winter, and the  exuberant smile of spring has changed. The high humidity, the constant wet skin and sawdust has worn us down. Muscles and sinew strained,bones ache. It's almost as if we woke up in January, blink our eyes, and it's August.

Those hopeful looks at the five day forecast, seeking relief from three months of summer's oppression are turning into a gaze toward fall. We know that when the humidity drops and that first cool morning arrives, the hope alone will invigorate.

By now the corn  is tall and the fruit is swollen. Then it happens one morning. We poke our nose  out the door to assess the day. The coolness touches our skin. We take a deep breath and hope fills our lungs. Our skin is electric and our eyes focused anew . The quickening of fall is practically upon us. Soon the corn will be cut and the peaches picked, and the hoodie will be standard fair. We will be energized for the harvest of fall, and firewood season. Running with renewed vigor  toward our winter rest. Where the cycle begins again.