Life on an Island

Firstgrader's class asks everyone to predict when the first day for 3-inch snow accumulation here in southeast Michigan this year.

First grader: December 1

Preschooler: January 1

Me: November 24

Dad: November 26

This week is going to be 60s in the highs, so it feels a bit strange to be talking about snow accumulation. But the adults remember the very cold and snowy winter two years ago. After a warm golden October weekend, the winter was colder than normal and snow accumulation started with Thanksgiving break. 

The Old Farmer's Almanac predicts a winter colder than normal:

Nov 20-24: Rain and snow, then flurries, cold

Today: extremely windy at times. 60s. sunny. autumn leaves swept away or in circles by the wind.


This is probably our last autumn in the Midwest -- a great season in a beautiful locale during this time of the year. Two summers ago when we first came here from the southern state, the temperature of 40s in November was so difficult to get used to. But after that first very snowy and cold winter, 40s in the spring felt so warm and welcoming.


In autumn, we've enjoyed lots of activities -- apple picking, corn maze, botanic garden with its last petals and leaves and fresh lavender, riverside driving, pumpkin carving and treat-or-treating in a large community, and meeting international families...


I always wanted to grasp the beauty of autumn before, but this season, when reading poems and facing all the uncertainties of life, I thought of the ancient zen master's poem, which is roughly translated as:


Spring has variety of flowers and Autumn moon,
Summer has cool breezes and Winter snow,
If there's no worries in mind,
Every moment is a good one in this world.


And one of my favorite songs goes -- 人隨風過　自在花開花又落   不管世間滄桑如何: let the wind pass, feel comfortable with letting flowers blossom and fall again, regardless of the vicissitudes of the world. 


It feels right to know that I've done my best to appreciate and enjoy the autumn beauty at the moment and feel comfortable about the passing of seasonal beauties.  Buddhism has it that all these outside changes are like dreams, fantasies, dew, electricity, fleeting and ever-changing.  The desire to grasp beauty and the sadness about its going is one form of personal obsession and a limited view.


Tomorrow will be 20 degrees lower than today, and the preschooler has a field trip to the corn maze. The teacher suggested warm clothes. We came home and started brainstorming, and he took out his snow suit to wear tomorrow, but his first-grader sister thought that's too warm for tomorrow.  He really wants to wear it though, and is now trying it on. We'll see.