Ideals, Lifestyle

TRADING UP

There are times when extreme loyalty to one season or place or endeavor in life prevents the ender that comes before the opener.

My dear friend Susan has a lovely intuition for and acceptance of a season ending to make way for another.

The fine artist Paula Plott Amos resisted the urge to move to a steadier climate because, she said once to me, my work is inspired by the seasons. Years ago, one of my best pals and I fun-tussled for one of Amos’s exquisite wooden Christmas ornaments in a (literal) Santa steal among friends. Not many months ago, I saw one, now tagged “vintage,” in a crystal bowl in one of my favorite spaces at Glenwood Antique Mall.

Our daughters, by birth and marriage, have infinitely more wisdom than I did at their ages. They practice restraint, understanding that the season they are in with their children must close before a new season, in which they elevate some of their own interests or tackle every desire on their long heart-to-home checklists, opens.

It’s now fall, and I continue to water the things that must, in the close of their season, fade. But I am older and wiser. Today, I’ll trade the fertilizer I’m itching to feed them for food for thought.

About Laurie

Laurie Carney is a strategist, writer, editor and account executive in her professional life. She is at home with her husband Jeffrey, also a strategist and creative director/writer, and silly rescue Poshie, Bonnie (aka Golden Bear). She has four beautiful children now that her son and daughter are happily married and five small grands playing starring roles.
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