“Change will come as surely as the seasons and twice as quick.” – “Little Women” (1994 movie version)
I thought about these words a lot today, after being away for six days. One week ago, the leaves and trees were still full and bright with color. Today some are close to bare with the leaves scattered in piles on the ground. The air feels different. It’s incredible how much can change in the span of one week. I wonder, what else has changed that I cannot see?
In San Diego, change is difficult to see, because the weather and nature is stagnant. But here in the Midwest, you can’t escape the visual and tactile evidence of change. It’s ironic, that in a place where some people fight change like they’re battling disease, that it’s so front and center every single day. How can we as people expect to stay the same if every single thing around us is shifting?
While I was slightly saddened that I missed a week’s worth of Indiana autumn, seeing how different everything looks is a comforting reminder that there are always different days ahead. And no matter how hard a winter is, spring always comes again. Or as humid as a summer day, autumn will, once again, roll around and show us that we can’t escape the beauty of change.