I always hear people saying things like, “I can’t believe it’s August already” or, “how did the year pass so quickly?” Most of us have a complicated relationship with time. We want the good to last and the bad to rapidly be over. It’s fairly natural. But for me, time rarely seems quick, only during the short summer months. Otherwise, it feels exactly like I hobbled through a full year until being back in my favourite place. Well not exactly a full year, but it always feels like it.
Beautiful Sunday cycle with Buisson in the distance.
And it’s been a year filled with all kinds of ups and downs. The winter was brutal, the spring and summer non-existent for the most part. Work has been steady and fairly pleasant. But we’ve had a serious personal loss that has changed the landscape quite dramatically. So, all in all, it’s been pretty normal: good, bad, happy, sad, slow and fast.
But when I flip the calendar to August (yes, I have an old-fashioned paper calendar that hangs on my wall!) I start to get butterflies. August has always signalled waning summer, but thankfully I get to come here, where summer is in full swing well into the end of September. I get an extenda-summer. I thank my lucky stars for this year after year.
I am giddy about coming to Provence now as I ever was. Maybe more so. Maybe as time passes and I become much more aware of it, pay more attention to it, it means more. Nothing can last forever, so being appreciative and grateful is essential. I hope I never stop being giddy about this place, or any other place that puts a smile on my face or a pep in my step. Whatever it is, wherever it is, I hope everyone has a bit of this kind of magic in their lives.
Words of encouragement everywhere you go!
