A Season of Change

At the end of the Bob Marshall crossing, August 2011, one of the highlights of the year.

This week the first wet, cold weather of the year descended on Missoula and now there's snow in the mountains visible from town.

I've been struck lately with the changes that are occurring within and around me. A long and glorious Montana summer has come to an end, and I suddenly realize that my kids aren't little anymore, that I'm pushing 40, that my work is my work, and that there's nothing I can do to slow down the clock.

It feels like a chapter of my life has come to a close and a new one has begun, but that I'm only noticing it after the fact, though the signs have been clear enough.

Jen says, and I've come to agree with her, that 'conflict is the result of a lack of acceptance'. So I resolve to accept the changes I observe and to find encouragement from the pleasant surprises, both the new and unexpected, as well as the old and familiar but still-so-good.

I'll keep reminding myself that there are always positives in change and that acceptance and gratitude never stop being good medicine.

The Swan Range from Seeley Lake, Family Camp Sept. 2011.