Well, we all know that Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer. Usually after the Labor Day holiday everyone heads back to school, the weather in most places begins to (if it hasn't already) turn toward autumn, and the days have noticeably less daylight.
I have to say that I really enjoyed the pace of my summer. I enjoyed the experiences that I had at Napa State Hospital. But I am glad to be moving into the autumn season. I do wish I had had another week to transition from "summer" into "autumn" but that's life I guess. I've found myself plunged into the world of academia and I'm not sure I'm quite ready for it, but here I go again with a lot of reading. At least this semester I am excited about my classes. I've not yet had a class that after the first meeting I don't look forward to going to the next meeting, now doing some of the assignments might be another issue altogether, but again, that's life.
Here in my world it has been interesting to mark time with many new neighbors moving in. One of the interesting things about life at a Lutheran Seminary is that each year brings a whole new mix of people. The only people I get to spend time with for more than one year are my classmates ... the people in the class one year ahead of me are off to internship (though this year, many of them are still living in the apartments because of spouses that are working in the area) the people that were on their internship last year are returning, but they've never met any of the people on campus now (except a few students who are staying a 5th year to work on another degree program). So here we are with a whole new dynamic, a whole new mindset on life, and after this year, that mindset and dynamic will not be the same again, the cycle continues, much like the seasons.
Even though summer leads to autumn every year, the transition is at a different time, a different intensity, and different memories are formed each year. As it's been said many times, the one thing that is constant in life is change. We have a choice then to embrace change, help drive it, be energized by it or we can stick our heads in the sand and ignore change, believe that things are as they always were, or simply say "it's not like the good ol' days." I choose the former with its optimism, its wonder and its possibilities. Summer may be over and the days may be getting shorter but the future is bright.
