“The older you get, the faster it goes.”
This well-worn phrase speaks to time’s swift passage. To coin another adage, if I had a nickel for every time I’d heard it I would indeed be a millionaire. My mother, who spent 95 years on this earth, used some of her precious time here to share this gem with increasing frequency as she aged. I once responded to her that if that was indeed the case I might soon just stay in bed since the minutes between day and night had shrunk enough already.
You definitely don’t have to be elderly to notice that time appears to be slipping past with breakneck speed these days. I was shocked to hear my young grandson remark on this very thing at the age of 13 and my kids have commented too at various points in life.
Which I admit has been unsettling. Never in my youth did I think of days and weeks slipping by quickly. Hours seem to drift by languorously, like a raft on a gentle river, going nowhere fast.
There was a minute sense of that vibe in the first part of this past summer as an early arrival gave us extra enjoyment of long sunny days steeped in humidity and blazing sun. But something happened with August’s start and in the blink of an eye we’d come to September. Then we blazed through those weeks too until October now sits squarely in our sights.
And while we might think summer moved on far too fast for our liking, there is so much to celebrate in this first full month of autumn. The nearby city of Kitchener pays tribute to its heritage with Canada’s largest Bavarian festival. Oktoberfest is an event replete with traditional German fare and fun. Think lederhosen, polkas, beers and brats.
Pumpkins come to mind when we recall two other upcoming occasions. In just a few weeks Canadians will give thanks for the season’s bounty and for the many blessings that exemplify life in the ‘True North Strong and Free’. Like its American counterpart, Thanksgiving here is a time for reflection and family. Outdoor decorations depict the season’s colour and harvest with vibrant mums, straw bales and cornstalks setting the stage for guests of honour — the aforementioned pumpkins. Dinner tables are laden with favourite foods. At the heart of it all is squeezing out one of life’s moments to ponder good fortune rather than bad.
Given time’s hasty pace, we know that in a blink October 2016 will also be history. But not before we enjoy one of its most entertaining celebrations — Halloween. Tiny little ghouls and witches, princesses and fairies, storm troopers and ninjas crunch their way through fallen leaves and onto porches festooned with candlelit jack-o-lanterns, plastic spiders in wispy batting and hanging skeletons enroute to delightful treats.
Summer has passed, as quickly as ever. But as we look ahead to summer we can think about the many gifts of autumn. There is changing foliage, the last burst of energy before flora and fauna sleep. October brings us reasons to party before we tuck in for winter too.
And as I ponder all of this, I decided to share some of my favourite autumn clipart collections from iCLIPART.com
A Country Collection of Autumn Images from iCLIPART.com
