Transitions

As I write, the window is blowing outside my window, and the autumn leaves that were already just on the point of falling, are being blown off trees at an alarming rate! The good news is the weather front that has brought this wind has also brought rain--much needed after a very dry season.

All of this has made me think about how any time of transition is a similar experience--the coming of needed things tied up with the harshness of transitions. Rain, for example, only happens when two fronts (and very different ones at that) slam into each other. The occurrance of rain, as renewing and refreshing as it is, is a pretty violent thing weather-wise.

We still need a lot more rain. And I know that as fall continues and winter comes, the wind will keep up, and rain will turn to snow. And ice even (let's hope not too much). Chris and I are already preparing for the chances of being stranded, or without electricity. We're getting our wood stove and chimney checked out, stocking up on gallons of water (the fun of being on a well!) and keeping dry goods on hand. There's a good chance we won't need much if any of it, but if we do, we'll hopefully be relatively prepared.

Times of transition almost always necessitate preparation of some form. I think we've forgetten that though. I mean, we live lives with so many conveniences that we are used to being able to get anything any time. Many people have no idea what fruits or veggies are "in season" and stocking up for anything seems foreign to us. After all, if we need more, we can just run to the store, right?

I think about early settlers living on "the western frontier"--yes, Missouri was once such an exciting, far-flung place--and all the ways they would be doing things differently right now. For them, preparing for the winter would have been a matter of life or death. The beautiful colors of autumn leaves and the crisp fall temperatures would serve as a warning and an encouragement to get serious about stock piling food, preparing the homestead, and preparing for a long cold winter. The transition would have been very distinct.

So I wonder whether we've lost the sense of the importance--and challenge--of transitions. Transitions are rough and scary things, and are the times we have to be working the hardest. This is as true of preparing for seasons of weather as it is preparing for the different seasons of our lives.