hurry

today i went by my old house to check on things and fill the fish pond. i hadn't been there in a week or so and it's always a treat to see what the neighbors have lifted off our property in the interim. this time however it wasn't the neighbors (i think everything has already been taken that's not tied down), but rather the bank.

we're slated for foreclosure next week barring the miracle of a buyer or the megaball in friday's drawing. i've resigned myself to that possibility over the past six months as i watched my realtor drop the price and drop the price and drop the price and still nobody, not a single soul, even coming to see it; let alone making an offer. but today when i showed up at the house i was not expecting to see that the bank had jumped the gun a bit. i found two of the three locks changed. the utilities (which i'm still paying for) turned off. and the house officially 'winterized'. gee thanks mr. mortgage company.

apparently they are in a goddamn hurry. and now their hurry has killed my fish and spoiled the food i still had in the freezer.

i do plan to set them straight in the morning, for what it's worth. that house is still mine and they have no business changing the locks or even stepping foot in there until that's not the case.

after that fun discovery at the house i went for a run at the park, mega's leash around my waist and her relentless hurry motivating me over the hills and around the strolling pedestrians. i corrected her too, as i wanted a jog rather than a sprint.

on the way from the park to pick up todd at taekwondo i saw a man drive away from a gas pump and take the hose with him. it ripped right out of the machine still in his truck's gas tank. apparently he was in a hurry. seems to be going around, sort of like the back-to-school-cold.

i have a close friend who's found herself in a different kind of hurry. rushing a relationship to maturity before its time. it's caused her some heartache and my heart has broken in empathy over the past week.

slow down.
slow down, my friend.
slow down, my pet.
slow down, my bank.
slow down, strangers in your cars.

our days are so full this fall. the boys have earlier school alarms and later bed times. in between there are more lessons and practices and homework. i have more varied obligations and passions. and though the agenda is multiplying, the hours are not.

and even so, i'm choosing to slow down. each minute, even when there aren't enough, is felt more tangibly and deliciously when i don't hurry it away. i am reminded of this tonight. the air is crisp. the windows are open. fall is leisurely rolling in. this season between the scorching and the freezing is nature's reminder to me that there's no need to hurry.

d: less hurry
b: more delicious minutes
g: fall's reminder