To Every Thing ,turn, turn turn,There is a Season, turn, turn, turn, .....

Today I woke to the sound of rain. It has been a while since I heard that light, persistent patter. This is a gentle rain, brought in steady gray bands from off the Pacific. It has none of the violence of a summer thunderstorm or the winds of an autumn tree basher. This rain lands gently on the still unfurled patio umbrella and the foliage of the trees still in their late summer greenery. It slowly soaks into the dry earth. I stepped out and heard a bird singing, welcoming the refresher. This rain will persist, strengthening slightly in a shower, subsiding into a drizzle, with the steady drip, drip of the trees as they collect the drops and disperse them at gravity's rate in the form of tree rain. This will be a gray week in Seattle, as summer turns to autumn officially with the equinox Monday. There will be warm, sunny days again, but they will not be summer days. For those we will now have to wait.

I attended a memorial service today. The son of a retired teacher friend, this man, at 51, was not quite yet in the autumn of his days. After a day of work, a lovely evening with his wife that included a walk by the beach, he took his beloved motorcycle out for a late evening ride. He hit a curb, crashed, and was gone. He left a grieving mother, brother, wife, and two young adult children and a host of friends to sort through the memories and the mourning. Once again I was reminded of how little we know about a whole person until we hear them memorialized. Simple people can be great people. The sun will shine again for those grieving his loss, but it will be awhile before they feel its warmth.

But every day, even a rainy day, is another day to embrace, to relish, to use and enjoy, to spend time with loved ones and cherished colleagues. To tell someone you love them. Days pass quickly.