Seasons Change

I have much recent experience with grief, whether it be broken relationships, deaths in my family, changing employment, or other events that lead to change.

Researchers define five stages of grief to be denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and in the end acceptance. Grief takes a long time to work itself out and unpredictable episodes appear at the most unlikely times.

Right now I am grieving my employment change, but more importantly, I grieve the loss of summer. The air is cool and that makes me look forward to the hunting season, but the gradual seeping cold progresses further inward each day, until we're all bundled under layers of clothes.

If I had more initiative, I would explore a greater topic of 'America in Grief'. Think for a moment how many millions of people are affected in one way or the other by massive unemployment? Time Magazine is dedicating a year-long series to focus on our dying city in Detroit. Imagine the grief there.

However change leads to growth and as someone close to me explained this morning, 'You may not feel great right now, but growth doesn't always feel good.'

The key, I believe, is to remain honest with oneself and loved ones, and grow together.

A small silver lining when we grieve the season's changing in New Hampshire is that our colorful foliage becomes better than television.

I was grateful to capture this image at sunrise today. Enjoy.