Is constant change a balance?

In about a month or so, with luck, maybe less, dogwood stems will brighten to a warmer red. I’m looking forward to that. Then it will be time to collect a handful of stems and put them in water at home and watch leaves emerge. Extended weather forecasts claim next month may be warmer than average and March may be very much warmer than average for our region. As one who has lived in this North Country for most of his adult life, I can only reply “We’ll see!” If nothing else, the prospect of a warmer spring raises hopes that can get us through Valentine's even if the ultimate result is disappointment in the accuracy of long range weather forecasts.

late February, dogwood stems bright red

Photo by J. Harrington

The view of the fields behind the house hasn’t changed much for weeks, other than some days are cloudy and others full of blue skies. The snow shows a few tracks left by wandering whitetail deer and the scampering footprints of a cottontail or two. Getting an inch or three of snow once or twice a week keeps filling in last week’s tracks so it all looks pretty constant. I’ve found that, no matter how pretty or beautiful a scene may be, after awhile I want it to change. Just as I really like red beans and rice, I wouldn’t want to eat it every day, week after week.

Then again, the temperature roller coaster ride we’ve been on this month is hard to adapt to. A day or two above freezing followed by three or four days of below zero, coupled with widely varying humidity levels, can make for too much change too often.

I wonder if anyone has found the Goldilocks equivalent of a beneficial balance to change in our daily and weekly lives, not too much, not too little, but just right to keep us satisfied and content for a season or two. If you’ve any thoughts on this theme, please feel free to leave them in the comments.

from constant change figures

By Lyn Hejinian

constant change figures

the time we sense

passing on its effect

surpassing things we've known before

since memory

of many things is called

experience

but what of what

we call nature's picture

surpassing things we call

since memory

we call nature's picture

surpassing things we've known before

constant change figures

experience

passing on its effect

but what of what

constant change figures

since memory

of many things is called

the time we sense

called nature's picture

but what of what

in the time we sense

surpassing things we've known before

passing on its effect

is experience

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