Wherever there is Death, there is Birth
March 21st, 2007
Circles, circles, cycles. One circle ended for me today, my last day as a full time nanny after 6 years with one family. It was a bittersweet day. I got teary several times. I know I'm more than ready to move on, but I was still sad and I knew that was ok. It just occurred to me that today is the first day of Spring, a time for new beginnings! Seems like very appropriate timing indeed.
I celebrated by getting some pretty flowers for the house, red-orange ranunculus and purple hyacinth. After arranging them in my prettiest vases, I grabbed my camera and went for a walk. This walk was inspired by a divining rod in Finding Water which suggests taking a walk at a time of day that you normally wouldn't. It was nearly dusk when I went out, the sun was low in the sky, the shadows were longer, it was getting dark slowly. I was happy to be out on the day when there's officially more light than dark. It was nippy and I was bundled up, but it was a good temperature for walking.
It was rush hour, lots of cars zipping by on the main road I walked down. But it was also dinner time and as I approached the small grouping of restaurants, I got a whiff of lots of great smells. Greasy pizza, Chinese food, Italian food, all mixing up together. I passed the front window of one restaurant and saw a grandmother looking at pictures of a baby. I kept walking and came up to the bridge where a river rushes beneath. I love looking at the water rushing by. It's so calming. I took some pictures. A man walking by said, "Good view?" I said yes. I walked on to the cemetary and stood at the edge behind the stone wall and read the stones, some dating back to the 1700's. There was one stone that only said, "Mother and Father" and above that there was the engraving of a hand holding a branch. On the way back I stopped by the river again to take a picture of this thicket of tangled trees.
I felt so awake! It was a great walk. All these pics were taken on my walk this evening.
11 Responses
I LOVED hearing about your walk and seeing your photos! We are definitely part of the Circles and Cycles . . . and we “got rhythm, Baby!” You hit two of my favorite places – the river and the cemetary. Peaceful places to contemplate
Peace and joy to you,
Bette.
Posted by: Bette | Mar 21, 2007 at 11:41 pm |
oops…meant to tell you that i was thinking of you today at your last day of work. how neat that you were the nanny to the children for 6 lovely years. you’ll all have great memories. good luck to you in your future endeavors.
bette
Posted by: Bette | Mar 21, 2007 at 11:52 pm |
I especially like the photo of the gravestones with your shadow. Your shadow symbolizes what will someday happen to you, to everyone. And yet it’s not sad. Because the ending is a beginning, as you say.
Posted by: Kathryn | Mar 22, 2007 at 2:23 am |
Love the shadow and graves and the tangled thicker – and how could I not love the water pictures? Me who must live by it.
Wow – time to turn the page. How exciting for you. I managed 6 years in one place only once in my life – and I quit there and they hired me back twice before I finally quit (which you will note works out to 2 years between quits which used to be my average…now, other than art, it ranges about 6 months). Congrats on a job well done. Onward!
Posted by: tammy vitale | Mar 22, 2007 at 7:06 am |
This is fabulous Leah… and even if I’m not doing FW now I did that same thing yesterday without knowing it was one of the exercises – I went out at dawn!
I also got “New Beginnings” as my card of the day yesterday so I was with you there too.
What fun!
Don’t worry if you do feel a bit of withdrawal symptoms for a while – you’ve been doing that job a long time. Welcoming the new is a great way to move on.
Sending you lots of love and hugs.
Posted by: Caroline | Mar 22, 2007 at 7:33 am |
I just came upon this divining rod and don’t know if I’ll be able to get to it this week, too bad. I loved reading about your walk – cemeteries are one of my favorite places to go to.
Posted by: kristen | Mar 22, 2007 at 10:24 pm |
What a big change for you…sending you ((hugs)) for whenever you need them. The walk sounds so interesting – and healing, too.
Posted by: tinker | Mar 23, 2007 at 1:52 am |
What a special time to transition from nanny into your new life. Your time with that family will be remembered by all of you and now there are new memories to create – like these beautiful ones on your artist’s walk. Wishing you all the very best, Jamie
Posted by: Jamie | Mar 23, 2007 at 7:01 am |
Fantastic photos and I love how you described your walk. I am so happy you feel good about your “new beginnings”…they can be so hard yet at the same time exciting.
Hugs,
a.
Posted by: andrea | Mar 23, 2007 at 6:48 pm |
Circles…cycles…how appropriate that you would end one at the start of a new seasonal one. Lovely photos. And a shadow photo, too!
Posted by: Marilyn | Mar 26, 2007 at 7:48 am |
oh, leah…i’m sending you a big hug. i love you and i love the way you see the world around you.
Posted by: Jessie | Mar 27, 2007 at 10:37 am |