As I went outside to get the mail, the heart-warming sound of snow crunching beneath my feet accompanied me all the way to the mail box and then back into the house. The silently falling snow was beautiful and was already melting on my arms, shoulders and hair. A smile was on my face as I came back in the house, but quickly vanished as I sat in my computer chair to finish two of my assignments. I'm doomed to stay inside during the rest of daylight hours, to finish my homework and then attend my web chat class at 6:00pm. I dearly wish that I could throw on my snowclothes and play outside, but I have too much to do, and besides, there is no one to play with. I miss my childhood! With my two sisters around, I always managed to coerce someone into playing with me. This is one of the reasons I cannot wait to have my own children, so I can watch them play and enjoy their childhoods together (and secretly, I am excited to be able to join in their play). Also, I am reminded of how important it is to cherish each day as it passes, for as time passes, we will look back on those days and smile fondly, wishing we could go back.
I always get a little teary eyed and sad when I think of the passage of time, and how quickly it truly goes. There are a few Simon &Garfunkel songs that describe this feeling perfectly, and make my hair stand on end when I hear them. The first is Leaves that are Green.
I was twenty-one years when I wrote this song
I'm twenty-three now, but I won't be for long
Time hurries on,
and the leaves that are green turn to brown
And they wither with the wind
and they crumble with the wind
...
I threw a pebble in a brook
and watched the ripples run away
and they never made a sound
and the leaves that are green turn to brown
Every time I hear that last stanza, I think of how, just like the ripples, time doesn't make a sound as it passes by and if we are not careful, we will not notice.
The second,
especially poignant when sung on their "Old Friends" tour a few years ago when both men were close to being seventy, is the song
Old Friends.
Old friends, old friends
sat on their park bench like bookends
newspaper blowing through the grass
falls on the round toes of the high shoes
of the old friends
old friends, winter companions the old men
lost in their overcoats waiting for the sunset
the sounds of the city sifting through trees
settle like dust on the shoulders of the old friends
Can you imagine us years from today
sharing a park bench quietly
how terrible strange to be seventy
old friends
memory brushes the same years
silently sharing the same fears
The last is a line from the little Bookends Theme.
Long ago it must be, I have a photograph,
Preserve your memories, they are all that's left of you
This one makes me especially sad, until I remember that we have an even better life with our Father in heaven waiting for us when our life on earth comes to an end. I pray that I remember each day to thank my God for the beautiful life he has given me on earth, as well as the perfect life that awaits me in heaven.
