The Sands of Time

                                                  On the Sands of Time
    Time has marked the passing of my years.  In some moments it has been a gentle breeze while in others it has been as a raging hurricane.  Drifted slowly by breezes and flung stingingly by roaring winds, the sands of time have congealed under me through the years.  In this way, my vantage point for viewing life has steadily gained height.  From here, I see more than I ever imagined even a few, short years ago.  In the years left to me, this view will certainly continue to change.  How much and in what direction is anyone’s guess.
    Measured care has replaced youthful exuberance.  What a view now!  A thing so simple as watching a toddler toddle has become a revelation to behold.  Where there was once only a stumbling child to keep safe and avoid stumbling over, there is now an unfulfilled promise to see and enjoy.  Little different than a kitten exploring here and there or a baby bird trying out its wings for the first time, the toddler explores its body and the world about.  And I – I have the unbridled pleasure of now seeing and sharing those steps into the unknown.
    Where the negative thoughts and words of others once brought tortuous pain, such thoughts are now little more than whispers before the roar of waves as they crash against the shore.  Without allegiance to such thoughts and words, I am free to be who I am.   
    Emotions that used to slash and attack self and others have now mellowed.  Such painful emotions were interrupted by the occasional islands of serenity and acceptance.  Still, there was only the flitting, darting bird in the wood.  Now there is the soaring eagle and the birdsong all around me.  Once, not too many years ago, I saw a hawk fly low overhead in its dive for prey and the sound of its body slicing through the air was audible to me from where I watched.  Not too many years earlier such sound, such a wonder of the world about me, would have gone unheard, unnoticed.
    In my youth, there was learning only because it was necessary.  Now there is learning for its own sake.  Each minute bit of learning brings with it a unity with all that is.  That there are diamonds deep within the Earth the size of watermelons astounds me.  That a killer whale would come completely up onto a beach to get a seal holds me spellbound.  That a particular species of penguin will stand for many days and weeks with an egg on its feet so it might hatch despite the frigid cold has to be a miracle of nature.  That a young man took apart a pocket watch, studied it and then carved one from wood that was accurate to within a minute per year is beyond genius.  That a man could balance on the tip of his index finger and then rotate a full 360 degrees is without equal.
    When I look up at a starry night sky and try to imagine that we are alone amongst such vastness, I cannot so imagine.  When I look up at a starry night sky and try to imagine that there are other life forms with us amongst such vastness, neither can I so imagine. 
    Somehow, far beyond my ken, this knowledge and wonderment seems to bring me more of a feeling of belonging and acceptance with life.  Before, there was only the next day.  Now there is the rest of life and what it holds.
    Manhood was once about muscles and hits on the football field.  Now I have no need to prove my toughness, my manhood.  No longer must I climb the mountain to know of its beauty and majesty.  Now, manhood is less of strength and more of belonging – among others and within the grandeur, the gift, we call life. 
    Yes, I am saddened by the fact that my stay here has been so brief and will soon end but I am so overjoyed that I was able to be here.  It has been a wondrous visit.