Autumnal Air (in August!)

This evening whilst meandering the streets of the bitsy 'city' that we live in, my love and I couldn't help but notice the autumnal air nipping at our ears and arms (all else was covered, it is Maine after all!). Autumn, ahhhh, our favorite season.

It was nearly one year ago that we stood in unseasonably warm autumn weather by the banks of a wide, flowing river and pledged to love one another for all time. We were surrounded by love on that day (we walk in the world surrounded by love, we just need to recognize it) and it's the memory of looking out into a sea of faces that I knew and cared about, and who cared right back, that makes my throat catch. This first year of marriage, our sixth of living a unified life, has been quite a journey. We have each taken turns being too busy for our own good while the other partner has gently kept things going. And then there are blissful, sometimes stolen, moments when we relax and revel in each other--heading to bed for a midday nap and staying there until the next morning watching movies, cuddling, reading and finishing last week's crossword puzzled; leaning into each other while we're out together; sharing a laugh over a joke that only we understand; holding hands; touching each other's skin... Its been a glorious, confusing, happy, quirky and altogether inspiring trip!

One of my favorite things about this year is that we've begun moving past the 'building block' concepts of purchasing a house (done), contributing to 401(k)'s, being debt-free, and owning reliable vehicles (done, thisclose, and done) and are beginning to move onto my specialty; far-reaching dreams. Taking several weeks off to explore the locked canals of France? Let's do it! Stretching our funds to purchase a spit of land on a lake? Why not! Arranging our work lives to enable foreign living? We can do it! I am in love with this phase of our existence.

And still, we have a cozy, small cottage a block from the ocean, surrounded by friends, blessed by just about everything, and pulsating with the eagerness to live our fullest lives together. I am delighted by our current moment, and inspired by the possibilities to come.