Living "In Between Times"

This past week has been good for photography because we are in a meterological struggle between winter and spring.  While the calendar says that winter officially holds claim to the season, spring's coup is quietly pressing toward center stage.  The photo selected for this week is not about the seasons nor is it about the steadfast passing of the seasons or about the special times we all observe within each season.  The thoughts stirred by this week's photo rise from the transition itself i.e. those in between times. 

 

During biblical days, wise old King Solomon proclaimed, "For everything there is a season, and a time for every activity under the heavens", referring to a predetermined or natural progression of events within life.  In the musical, Fiddler on the Roof,  Tevye and Golde sing "Sunrise, Sunset" a song in which they reminisce about the swiftly passing of the years as one season following another.  The lyrics are similiar to that familar expression we all use when we exclaim with wonder, "Where have all the years gone?"  We mark events by the days and seasons as though they are mile posts guiding our journey through life, and in doing so, we assign them importance -- but what about all the in between times where most of our living takes place?  

For me, the above photo partially answers that question.  
 

I took this photo at Nygren Wetlands mid week while visiting hoping to find open water and new bird visitors.  Instead, I found ice and some open patches of water that reflected the sky and the surrounding treeline.  Opaque sheets of ice were still covering the greater portion of the water's surface concealing the beautiful water reflections and delaying the return of birds which I hoped to photograph. The sharper edged mid winter ice was transitioning into a smoother edged pearlized version blending in with the scattered open patches of water as if they came to an agreement that they are one in the same.  The open patches spoke to me of patience, and about finding beauty in the present while sustaining hope for things to come.  They encouraged me not to lose the capacity to see the beauty and appreciate the mystery that comes with living wthin the in between times.  

Coming here today wasn't the waste of time that others, like me, initially thought.  As always, the visit provided me with a time to slow down mentally, to listen, and to stand alone in the solitary presence of nature and feel humbled to be a part of its changing ways.  The truth in living may be that life isn't about the "special times" we have learned to anticipate, recall and mark yearly on our calendars.  In reality, the in between times may be the time where our real living takes place. The in between times could be the place that molds us by providing us the foundation to create, experience, and interpret life's special times and celebrations making them seem more joyful and fufilling whenever they come our way.