It has been a little while since my last posting. June 5th to be exact. Since then, spring melted into summer, and now summer is beginning (hopefully) to give way to autumn. (Autumn is certainly my favourite time of year, and I am more than ready to dig out the sweaters and steamy cups of spiced tea.)

I found it difficult to keep up with posting about what was going on around me this summer – my thoughts and adventures – as I wanted to make the most of visiting with family that was from out of town. It was a summer filled with memories and connecting with loved ones, and I hope you, reader, had a wonderful summer as well.

Around the end of May/beginning of June a seed of thought was planted in my mind which grew into a plan of action: I am going to go back to school. I am only taking a few subjects this year in the evenings, but I hope to enter a course next year that will take a few years to bear fruit. All that being said, I expect these posts with my rambling thoughts on finding joy in the everyday things around us might become even fewer and further between. I still hope to keep my focus on the simple things in life, but I will need to keep my observations and thoughts more to myself until the day comes when I will have more freedom to express them.

It has been a long time since I have been in school. I feel a bit out of touch with thoughts of studying and exams and midterms, and I certainly didn’t have the responsibility then of working full time and house and yard maintenance that I have now. I plan on making and freezing a large amount of dairy-free meals this coming week, so that should be helpful when the time comes. I will try to take some pictures of the process to share. I am looking forward to this change of lifestyle and the challenge this learning opportunity presents.

This is not the end of my blog, just a change, a slower speed. A bend in the road to a new direction, if you will.  This poem by Helen Steiner Rice has come to mind. It is maybe a bit more sentimental for my current state of thought concerning my change of direction, but it is a pretty poem and maybe it could be helpful to someone else.  I will leave it with you to ponder over and tuck away for the next time you find yourself at a bend in the road.

The End Of The Road Is But A Bend In The Road

When we feel we have nothing left to give
And we are sure that the “song has ended”–
When our day seems over and the shadows fall
And the darkness of night has descended,

Where can we go to find the strength
To valiantly keep on trying,
Where can we find the hand that will dry
The tears that the heart is crying–

There’s but one place to go and that is to God
And, dropping all pretense and pride,
We can pour out our problem without restraint
And gain strength with Him at our side–

And together we stand at life’s crossroads
And view what we think is the end,
But God has a much bigger vision
And he tells us it’s only a bend–

For the road goes on and is smoother,
And the “pause in the song” is a “rest,”
And the part that’s unsung and unfinished
Is the sweetest and richest and best–

So rest and relax and grow stronger,
Let go and let God share your load,
Your work is not finished or ended,
You’ve just come to “a bend in the road.”

by Helen Steiner Rice