Falling Leaves in August: When Your TIme Comes

Just now, I was sitting at my dining room table, feeling blocked about writing, when suddenly there was a flurry of falling brown leaves from my sycamore tree in the front yard.  It's the second day of August.  Too soon for autumn leaves to tumble with at least two months of summer left.  But it has been unusually hot, extremely humid...not "typical" southern California weather, but all the same, something we here is SoCal know will come in summer as a monsoonal flow passes through.  And leaves do fall in August.

Then suddenly there was an urgent alarm signal from the radio,  It was from the National Weather Service.  A woman's flatly affected voice said:  FLASH FLOOD WARNING!  Portions of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties...etc.  Sudden downpours!  Warning!  Then as I took in the reality of the notice, another shower of leaves spreading from my yard to the yards across the street, a wind carrying them along.

As I watched the leaves fall in awe, with wonder, it struck me that even though it seems pre-mature, their time had come.  Mid-summer, the prime of summer, the leaves died and drifted down to the ground.  And the feel of an approaching storm filled the air.

It was a sign. You never know when your time will come.  Don't put off until tommorrow...etc. Get off the stick or out of the tree.  Frankly, I'm not ready to tumble down.  This afternoon I am going into the storm, where the floods may flash and there are probably no leaves to tumble: the Salton Sea. I am going with two experienced friends to capture images with my camera.  

But before taking of, in light of this not-too subtle sign, I opened my blog, and began to write again.  Sometimes that is all it takes.

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