How Did I Get Here?

I find this strange....how you can drive the same route to your destination and never really remember how you got there.  I say to myself sometimes after arriving at my destination, how did I get here!  Has that happened to you?  If you are like me you don't consciously see everything along the way.  I may be thinking of what chores or assignments lay ahead of me that day, or reflecting on my day on the way home.  You may not even notice a change if it comes slowly and gradually.  For example, a house painted a new color or different car in someone's driveway.  Or have you started out to go somewhere and turn to drive like your going to work instead.  That's when I am operating on auto pilot, clocked out and tuned out.

The same thing happens here at home.  I am not trying to be funny... but like how cobwebs sneak up on you.  Or dust in the light fixtures and dust bunnies under the sofa.  How is it that we see the spaces we live in everyday, but we don't see the beginning of these things?  That's the way it is for me anyway, unless I am looking for something!

I think age creeps in on us that way too.  You may not notice that one gray hair or a laugh line or crease beginning on your forehead.  One day you look in the mirror and you don't look thirty or even forty anymore!  Or not seeing Charlie and Bella everyday.  I'm sure Wayne and JoCasta don't notice how much they change after two weeks the same as Harland and I do.  Next week it will be their turn to be away and see how much a week will change them.  I'm afraid to think of the important little things I may have missed along the way when my kids were little on the days I was operating on auto pilot.

This time of year I am looking for signs of spring.  I noticed yesterday the maple tree outside the kitchen window already has little bitty red leaves and the daffodils are blooming.  When did that happen?  Then I look beyond and I still see the bones of winter, the trees from a distance are still gray and undressed.  I will get busy again going about doing the everyday things.  But, I hope I don't forget look up until trees have already turned green, all the flowers have bloomed and the boot sucking mud is gone.  I am going to try to be more aware of where I'm going and traveling there less often on auto pilot.  I want to turn off my auto pilot, clock in and tune in, because I don't want to miss the beautiful little changes that come along the way.