Seasons of Life

Today I'm with a friend, who happens to be my daughter's mother-in-law, at her summer home on Lake Wisconsin. We have been hard at work cleaning the place up because it's for sale, and her realtor plans on having an open house over the coming weekend. I don't mind helping her out though, because through the years, I have been a frequent guest here.

It's a lovely late spring day, and she has been in the garden weeding and planting for most of the morning and afternoon, coming in only for lunch, which by the way was a fish fry, thanks to a neighbor who offered fish he caught fresh on the lake yesterday. He even fileted them for us, so all I had to do was soak them in milk, bread them in seasoning, and fry them up. Delicious! I can't remember the last time I had fish not bought at the supermarket. Or for that matter fish that was fried rather than broiled!

My tasks have been washing windows, cleaning the steps down to the basement, and doing a bit of laundry. I've had plenty of time for rest in between chores. Marie has a lot more stamina than I do, but even she had a short nap after lunch. The seasons of our lives change, as they must, and it's up to us to adapt.

Ecclesiastes 1: 4 - 7 (Common English Bible) reads: "A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains as it always has. The sun rises, the sun sets: it returns panting to the place where it dawns. The wind blows to the north; around and around blows the wind; the wind returns to its rounds again. All streams flow to the sea, but the sea is never full; to the place where the rivers flow, there they continue to flow."

Annie and me having a quiet moment

The language of this particular translation seems so beautiful to me. And when I think about not coming to the lake house anymore, especially with my children and grandchildren, I try to think of the joy the next generation will have as they delight in God's wonderful creation in this lovely spot of the world. I wrote a poem about this last fall, but it's handwritten in a journal at home, so I cannot share it with you now. In a few days I will post it on my poetry blog: www.evespoetrypage.blogspot.com so you can check it out there. My feelings may have been a bit more melancholy back in the fall, but now that some time has passed, I am trying to be more philosophical.

"The sun rises, the sun sets," and so it must be.

Have a blessed day, and come back soon.