Time to stop

How is it that it is Saturday already? It seems like the past 2 weeks have flown by and I don't know where they went. The worst part is that when I took The Pug out for a walk the other evening, there it was...the smell of fall. Dread. It was that smell of damp and cold mixed with grass clippings and transforming leaves. It's only August, but it has changed. Maybe it is just the "Back to School" fliers and the fall clothing in the stores, but I can feel it. Soon, jean capris and thin t-shirts will be replaced by long jeans and zippy-up hoodies. I'll fight it, I hate wearing socks.

It was this feeling of fall-ness that made me think that I should probably take some pictures of my brightly blooming flower bed before it started to fade. As I was taking a shot of one of my "caterpillar" flowers (I think it is a type of Salvia, but they really do look like rainbow caterpillars living in my garden) I saw this grasshopper taking a rest there. I looked closer and was amazed by the detail on his huge legs as well as on his back and head. It is so amazing what you find when you are looking through a camera lens....just the things you normally pass by and never "see". I moved in closer and got this awesome shot of him just hangin out....resting. I watched him sit there for ten minutes or so, rotating his head, rubbing his front legs along the sides of his large face and stretching out his super-powered legs. It was peaceful. Maybe when they said "Take time to stop and smell the flowers", what they actually meant was take time to stop and watch the grasshopper who is resting and enjoying sunning himself on your flowers.

Time just goes too fast. I find that life is just so fast paced now. You work long hours, you run to appointments, to the bank, for groceries, you spend time fulfilling obligations to things you have to do and not things you want to do. And then, when you finally stop to take inventory, days, weeks, months or maybe even years have passed and you can't remember where they went. You look around and realize that the things you wanted to be doing have gone undone. Look around...piles of books have gone unread, canvases that should be alive with color are blank, coffees and dinners with friends are left for when there is time and we aren't any better off. You hop from thing to thing stretching and giving and being pulled thin, all the time wishing for some YOU time.

STOP

Just stop it. Take it, take the time now. Do the things you WANT to be doing. Of course there are those things we have to do, like "make the doughnuts" to "bring home the bacon" (or Beggin Strips as The Pug would like to think) but there are so many ways to become un-busy to enjoy some YOU time. I know, this sounds somewhat selfish, but The Givers continue to give and The Takers will always be there to take whatever The Givers are willing to give. In other words, if you don't take care of yourself, no one will. Be a bit selfish! Read the book, go for the coffee or dinner date with the friend and make time for you.

Grasshopper. Soak in the sun. Hop. Hop. STOP!