A Moment...

The plums have started to fall. If they are not picked today there won't be much point to picking at all.

Leaves have suddenly lost their lush look and the tips are turning colors. Autumn is on it's way in the North Country.

The wild jungle chickens perch where ever they please at night. A coop must be built before the cold sets in.

Either I scale back my '07 breeding plans for the Shetland flock, or I get out there and build some more pens.

The boys are expressing a desire to change schools or home school. I still haven't made a decision and it is mid-August. Do I swallow the inertia right along with the guilt or do I jump wholeheartedly into the unknown?

And on the day when I should be getting her birthday card and gift and over-due letter sent off in the mail to her, a card and letter and small selected batch of clipped magazine articles arrives from my oldest and dearest friend...

And there she is...right with me at the playground while the boys run loose. Not in Florida. Not a million miles away. But right there. And she's so beautiful, and funny. And I cry to hear she has been sick a lot these past few months-as if Motherhood isn't hard enough when one is healthy. And I'm so happy to hear her joy over a spiritual affirmation.

This spinning earth slows down for just a moment. One son will hurt his shin. We'll have to get back home. Supper...maybe those plums...Clancy's meeting...dropping into bed too late...turning a year older...

Somewhere in Florida, she is a few hours ahead of me...a few parenthood years behind me...completely contemporary in this precious moment. Her letter is a room we both meet in. She gave me the key to the secret door there. And I hear her voice. I see her. I love her. I take a deep breath.

Up to speed I jump back on the Merry-Go-Round of Life. Centrifugal force flings me outward. I hold on with both hands and my whole heart.