Seasons

Jun 16, 2010 | Health, Wisdom | 2 comments

I love words. You’ve probably worked that out. Why would anyone write books, blogs, and articles if they didn’t like words? I really like words, though. J’adore des mots. Take a word like season. It’s a versatile word. We’re in the winter season now. It’s been getting down into single digits temperatures at night on the island. We’ve had a surfeit of rain recently so things aren’t dying off as early as usual, but they will get around to it, as that’s what happens in the winter season. Used as a noun, season is what we do when we add seasoning to food. Seasoning makes dishes interesting, piquant, salty, tart – and sharpens our taste buds. We’re about to have a slow-combustion wood heater installed in our living area which will be filled with the wood we have been seasoning for a year. Seasoned wood burns beautifully. I was disappointed to learn that one of my favourite uses of the word season is considered archaic by my dictionary, as in “to everything there is a season”, meaning a proper or suitable time. See, I would like to be able to say that I’m in the autumn season of my life (based on plans to live to a hundred) without sounding like a fuddy-duddy. My age (65) is a proper or suitable time to be semi-retired. Working less means I can think more and have the space to envision what I want my winter years to look like. I’m not planning any face-lifts or mountain climbs, but I would like to have reasonable mental faculties. Even Ram Dass, one of my heroes, has kept going, though somewhat more quietly, since his stroke. Elders should keep on keeping on, if only because they are so well-seasoned. Life experience is the seasoning that makes aged people interesting. These days when we waste so many of our resources, skilled, knowledgeable, and wise old people should be treated like the national treasures they are. Speaking of articles, yours truly is featured in The Australian Yoga Journal June issue: “Pedestal-free Zone”, based on one of these blog entries.

2 Comments

  1. Eve So often I read your articles and am so moved and overawed by your “Words of Wisdom”…..and never have the right words or capacity to reply on your level – so i have found some quotes that reflect my gratitude!!
    A THOUSAND THANK YOU’S:
    If your actions inspire others to dream more,
    learn more, do more and become more,
    you are a leader.
    John Quincy Adams
    The first step in the acquisition of wisdom is silence, the second listening, the third memory, the fourth practice, the fifth teaching others.
    Solomon Ibn Gabriol
    No man was ever wise by chance.
    Seneca
    Years teach us more than books.
    Berthold Auerbach
    LOVE YOU
    EVE

    Reply
    • Thank you, Joyce. Those quotes are precious. I’m just about to tweet one them 🙂 Love, Eve

      Reply

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