Beginnings

It is only October 1, and yet winter came yesterday with a little snowfall that is gone today, but whose presence lingers on the tall mountains that grace both sides of this quiet valley. It is a new beginning. I had just learned to love summer and to appreciate the value of working, pulling weeds, knocking down dead trees by any means possible, watching dead things come to life with a little sprinkling of water, listening to the birds, enjoying the neighbor's cat jump through my piles of brush. Now that time is past. It is a new beginning. Winter will bring a fresh perspective and new opportunities to watch and learn. I have always loved beginnings - Morning, Monday, January, First Day of School, New Book, New Job, New Song to Sing - even Garbage Day! They are chances to start over and try to do things better; to use old knowledge in a new way. I will think of this early winter as the beginning of something wonderful and exciting and NEW. I can't wait to see what it will bring.

Grandmother