45 Minutes

Can you believe it is already mid-October.  The barometer and thermometer and all those other “ometers” don’t lie.  The year is marching on in quick-step and sweeping us all along with it. 

 

I have absolutely no idea where September went, but I’m relatively certain it followed July and August, both of which I seem to have missed as I must have blinked as I ran through them.  Life is crazy busy and I have to remind myself to slow down and enjoy the fall before it’s gone and I find myself hip deep in snow, which in Ohio could be sometime next week.

 

There’s just something special, almost magical, about the feel and smell of fall.  It has a unique identity all its own.  It means schoolbuses, crunchy leaves, sweatshirts, costumes, corn mazes, apple cider, football, and baking.  I know I’ve mentioned it before, I really do love fall, but it seems to be the shortest and busiest season so I barely get to enjoy it before it’s gone again.

 

There has been so much to write and say, but life has been too busy to stop and put fingers to keyboard to capture the thoughts that run through my head during my drives through the countryside.

 

One of “our” newest adventures this fall is Kelley’s participation in a venture program through Lockheed Martin for aspiring engineers in the aerospace field.  I say “our”, not because I am in anyway participating, but I apparently have become the chauffeur for my aspiring engineer/pilot.  So, together, we set out every other week or so, to drive 30 miles away through the rolling countryside of northeast Ohio, whose gentle foothills are resplendent in autumn colors.  30 miles, which translates into 45 minutes one-way of conversation, observations and glimpses into the life and mind of a 14-year old boy.

 

·     45 minutes of peace and quiet. 

·     45 minutes to slow down and enjoy the fall. 

·     45 minutes to capture this moment in time with my son who is quickly approaching independence and adulthood. 

·     45 minutes to strengthen and nurture our relationship. 

·     45 minutes to get lost together – quite literally – and together find our way again.

·     45 minutes to teach and reinforce values, goals, morals, and ethics.

·     45 minutes to teach invaluable survival and coping skills, such as map reading.

·     45 minutes to talk about real life issues.

 

I’m loving every minute of it.