The autumn sun cast long shadows. Appropriate for fall is the shadows we cast. A friend of similar age commented on his daily thoughts of mortality. He noted that another ten or eleven years could mean a change in health whereby he could not go where he wanted. I thought from your mouth to God’s ear. I have seen many having failing health in their 50s and 60s. I mentioned that a friend asked me if I ever thought about mortality…I replied that I did not…until his question…now I think about it daily. He agreed. So fall is well underway and either halfway done or soon to reach that mark. It has been quicker than ever due to the extreme heat for much of it. It has seemed like one long summer and a little fall tacked on.
The Old Man saw it again. There it was in the wrong place for the Sun’s influence. A long shadow of a man wearing a big hat. It appeared at strange times. When life was a bit of a slog the Old Man would see the mysterious shadow. The Shadow walked out of the shadows…a mind of his own. Shadow exuded calm. Old Man called the Shadow…Shadow Man. Shadow Man was in the corner of the hospital room when the Old Man almost died as a child. Shadow Man rode with the Old Man and his mom in the ambulance when the driver commented, ‘This kid is not going to make it.’
‘I enjoy our walks…our talks…in the autumn woods,’ Shadow Man said. ‘I realize you think that life has happened much too quickly…this is not all there is…it is just the beginning,’ Shadow Man said. ‘When you were a child you learned to write cursive…you went to the library to use the card catalogue to find the book you needed…going to the Moon was a dream until it became reality,’ Shadow Man mused. ‘Now you carry a Library in your pocket…computers talk to you and you talk back…you wonder if AI will be the extinction of the human race or the rocket propulsion of it,’ Shadow Man laughed. ‘So it goes with this life…when you look back on it you will think what good training for what is coming,’ Shadow Man said .
‘I enjoy are conversations as well,’ Old Man said. ‘Often I think of what is next,’ Old Man grinned. ‘The Day Of Life ends quickly,’ Old Man attested. ‘It is dawn with dew on the grass…all is new and shines with promise,’ Old Man observed. ‘The safety and security of Morning is a wonderful thing…then comes mid-day,’ Old Man laughed. ‘Time to not let grass grow under your feet…make hay while the sun shines…climb the ladder without fear,’ Old Man recalled. ‘Soon it is night…rest and reflection…a sense of place…see what you have not seen and do what you have not done,’ Old Man danced on one foot and then the other. ‘Then the Secret,’ Old Man whispered.
