I briefly laid next to my daughter on her bed last night as she was drifting off to sleep. Through the skylight above her bed the night sky was full of stars. It struck me that I hadn’t seen the sky like that for a long time. It’s too light in summer at bed time and since then it’s been pretty much cloudy and rainy until now. So the temperature dropped overnight and this morning was decidedly autumnal. As I stepped outside, my breath hung in the air, suspended—a brief cloud of vapour—then faded away.
This is always a moment I enjoy and remark upon, like the first blossom in spring or the first frosty morning later in the year. Or, “It’s snowing!” It’s a moment of simple beauty, of being present, and a reminder that while around me all is changing, it is not chaotic, but cyclical: the seasons wax and wane, the sun rises and sets. It’s not in my control, but feeling that connection to nature gives a deep reassurance.
The most remarkable thing about today, though, was that my daughter said exactly the same thing as she set foot out of the house 🙂
*Title from Subterranean Homesick Alien ~ Radiohead