Friday, February 17, 2012

Ethereal Pastures


 I took this photo one morning last summer, across the field behind our house...

They leave
Not all at once
And never entirely
But, from wide-eyed
And apprehensive
Kindergarten child
To the 'standing eye-to-eye child'
They begin leaving
And continue
To leave us
Subtly, swiftly
Moments dissolve
Into years, gathering behind us
In an ethereal mist.
These precious,
Oh so precious
Pieces of ourselves
Are leaving
And sometimes in the happy
Bustle of life
We forget
They are leaving
But only a little at a time
And never
Entirely or
Forever

© Janet Martin

I was thinking these thoughts as I heard our oldest daughter, Emily
leaving early this morning…and my mind wandered through ethereal past.
Where does it go…time? and suddenly I am excited to drink in the present moment
before it too slips away to ethereal pastures.
Then Laurie’s comments at RGMIT which most parents can
relate to, really tied into my thoughts.

Laurie’s prompt: Use the words ethereal

Emily reminded me that she will be twenty in 4 mos.
Twenty years pass incredibly fast!
It reminded me of a Kenny Roger's song... 

17 comments:

  1. Lovely....this was a bit uncanny,because I just posted a similar picture I took last summer of the field behind us .Isn't it neat how God ordains our thoughts?
    Have a good one,~L~

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  2. Yes, the years do pass quickly before we know it even. Babies, toddlers, school agers, teens, young adults. And I do think we might TRY to forget they are leaving, but even young children are on that leaving track....and time passes WAY too fast.

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  3. Your words could not fail to strike a chord with me: it is just one week since my oldest daughter went away to college... the years behind us do seem ethereal.

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  4. The years do pass by too quickly. I was just thinking about that, too. My children aren't quite eye-to-eye yet but getting there. This is lovely Janet- picture and poem.

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  5. Wonderful, I loved it!~ Ethereal mist does awaken all the senses~

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  6. I loved this poem Janet ~ I was just thinking about this as I went to pick up my Kindergartener from school yesterday... that this summer she'll be 7, and where have those years gone? My son will also be entering Kindergarten or Pre-K later this year... it's mind-boggling sometimes to really try and comprehend. Time really is a mysterious thing, isn't it?

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  7. Twenty years ago seems recent to me. So does thirty. I've recently been involved in interviews about something fifty years ago, for the centenary of a newspaper where I used to work. Fifty years ago does seem like a long time. LOL
    But I know what you mean about children. They are grown and gone too soon. My advice to them is always: enjoy being young, because we're a long time old.
    K

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  8. Heavy sigh.....how true these words are, I miss all of those moment already and they aren't even gone yet.

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  9. K~ I would love to use your advice/quote in my side-bar. I will be looking fifty in the face in four years, but I am not yet able to recall fifty years.Twenty passed in a flash...

    Megan, I feel so old but oh, enjoy them when they are little, and I have no doubt you do:) because it is gone so fast! I still feel like I'm in a great stage of life, each with its own joys.

    Ella, thank-you. I like the word ethereal...so many possibilities.

    Mama Zen, thank-you so much.

    Laurie, I have three eye-to-eye and one str-r-e-etching to be see if she grew:) Our 'baby' of the family is a little tiny compared to some 11 year olds and she is sure she will never grow:) but she will.

    Kerry, it does tug at the heart-strings, partly because it feels like we were just there, right?

    Lucy, that is so neat! Yes, I stopped trying to figure out God years ago...now I'm just working at the trust part:)

    Thank-you all so much for your words.
    I think I need to go out and take a picture of the sun. it seems like ages since we've seen it. It was a very gray week!

    Have a great week-end!

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  10. Herotomost...I know exactly what you mean! I very much empathize with that feeling. I love comments like this...personal quotes/poems! thank-you

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  11. I know how this goes. My son is almost 40, and he and his wife have a little boy, my only grandchild so far. I look at little Joshua and see the world a little differently. He too will grow up and leave home someday, all in God's wonderful design. I so enjoyed your poem.

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  12. what a gorgeous poem and photo and OH SIGH yes ethereal! i wrote about a moment with my daughter, ethereal... we were on the same wavelength with this. you did a great job of describing the ache.

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  13. I can relate to your post...my kids are growing up too fast...but we are lucky that all of them are still living with us...i like to think they never really leave us even if they will someday live apart from us ~

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  14. The years slip behind us while we are busy living them, don't we? And those pencil marks on the doorway get higher all the time. I loved the ending to this.

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  15. Fireblossom `Love 'those pencil marks':)

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  16. oh beautiful {claps hands} - love the way you etherealized this part of life's journey... and just the perfect title for the words

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  17. we especially leave a piece of ourselves behind when we are stressed and upset

    four brilliance senryu

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