be.here.now

I'm finally here.  It' the start of a long weekend after a surprisingly slow moving short week.  Fall conferences are the culprit.  Although it is more reminiscent of summer the past couple days, than crisp and fall-like.  This morning it is already 65 and the mercury will keep rising into the 70s by afternoon. Of course, then it is supposed to drop 30 degrees, but we just won't talk about that now.  The cats are once again perched in front of the wide open patio doors instead of curled up tight on warm and fuzzy afghans. I predict they'll be back to sleeping all yin yang before dark.

Today feels like a long coveted gift. The bow on top is the beautiful morning I have all to myself.  The kids have a half day of school.  Then I will spend the afternoon alone with Miss Bit.  T. Bone is busy with friends.  Me and my girl have plans to take a hike.  The only question is where.  I like dilemmas like that.  It's one of our favorite things to do together and it goes without saying that she is one of my favorite people, but I'll say it anyway.

It also goes without saying that I love October, but again...I'll say it anyway.  I struggle with being blissed out over it one moment and then rueful the next because each moment of autumn adored means one less in cue.  I know it's against everything I know to be true and strive to make truth, but it just is.  I commit daily to live in the moment, but that simple  promise is sometimes the hardest one to keep.  It's often elusive, but then something will remind me to be. here. now.  It might be the crane in flight along the parkway or the way the last remaining leaves shimmer in the sunlight.  It may be the sudden poignancy of the lyrics from a song I've listened to countless times, or the striking relevance of a poem I haven't read in a long time.  Whatever it is that beholds me doesn't much matter.  It can be subtlest of nuances, the minutest of details that expose my neglect of here where I am.

It's trite, but true that the only moment we have is the moment at hand.  The past is gone and done and the future may never come, but this moment is for the living.  On down days, this reality can feel like too much.  Today is not one of those days.  Today be. here. now feels like an invitation not a sentence.  Today be. here. now comes with wings instead of chains.