Season of Introspection

       A flock of geese, cloaked in darkness, offered up their rhythmic chant, bodies bent southward in a gesture of longing for places warmer. They fly over Laraway, reminding us that winter is near.
       Summer is the guest that never overstays her welcome.  She announces her arrival shortly after Memorial Day, lingers for a while, and slips away like water through our fingers.  Steamy afternoons and sweltering nights are replaced by mist-chilled mornings and extra blankets at bedtime.  Autumn's darkness makes the ritual of rising for school and work just a little bit harder.

           There's a crispness in the air.  Laraway's gardens and fields are resting, taking a break from staff and kids' planting, tending and harvesting.

            And, yes, the snow will come, sometimes fast and furiously, sometimes daintily like a gentle sprinkling of salt, altering the landscape and encouraging us to look more deeply within.  And the children and youth at Laraway will ski, snowshoe and search for animal tracks on their journeys toward learning, healing and becoming whole.  Here's to a season of introspection.