Changes

The season of autumn which, meteorologically, begins on September 1st, brings changes to most everyone's daily routines. The one change that affects most people is that kids are back in school. No more staying up late, playing outside until it gets dark, or snacking all day. Now, there are schedules for an after school snack, homework and bedtime--and not much room for anything else. If you don't have kids in school, you might have to allow extra time when driving through town because now there are "school zone" slow downs, school buses loading and unloading, and kids crossing streets walking to school.

Autumn also brings changes to the weather, especially the temperature. We know that the days are getting shorter, leaves start turning colors and soon, we might need a jacket. After a long, hot summer, I look forward to fall. It is my favorite of the four seasons but sometimes it seems that fall doesn't seem to last very long. I wake up one morning and there is ice everywhere! But, I think, that makes the season of fall all that more interesting. I watch for the monarch butterfly migrating and I am relieved when the Mississippi Kites leave for their winter home. A kettle of kites (yes, that what a group of Mississippi Kites is called) spends all day in a couple of different trees around my yard calling to each other and it becomes annoying! I look forward to the holidays that come in the fall--Halloween and Thanksgiving--but mostly I like how it seems that time slows down. Winnie the Pooh says, "Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day."

A big change in my life is that I am retiring from the church secretary job. Steve Freeman is taking over for me. This "river" of retirement and finding my replacement has been in no hurry but it has finally arrived. The session and I started looking for my replacement about a year ago. I will still be around, especially on Sundays for Children's Worship and to help Steve if he has any questions. Not having to be anywhere at a certain time on a weekday is the biggest change that I am looking forward to; after all, that has been going on since I was six years old in the first grade! I am still going to abide by the Winnie the Pooh quote above about the river. I am not going to be in any kind of hurry to go or do; I am just going to enjoy the journey.

--Tina