Mockin’ Time

Here’s this week’s reflection. I hope it resonates with you and ask that, if you enjoyed, please comment and share on your social media. Heartfelt thanks for all your support!

Keeping the light on for you,

Carol

A pocket of backyard paradise is tucked under a generous shade canopy, its dappled light an outdoor disco ball. Next to the Lilliputian playhouse built long ago by Grandpa, hammocks are strung between the trees where our daughters gently sway to the breezes of each day. Far more than a hobby, “mockin’ time” is a nourishing ritual in their development.

Guests into this private world include humans, dogs, and an occasional guinea pig, all curled up within a plethora of pillows and blankets when the evenings get cool. Flashlights and fairy lights provide necessary ambiance in this external living room, with a portable snack selection offering sustenance. A generous wifi signal provides coveted independence as well as vital connection. These glowing pouches fuel a glow in my own heart as I ponder the fleeting passage of time.

Now filled with high school seniors, these living sacs are fitting chrysalises on the path to maturation, cozy cocoons to help them sort out life’s problems and school assignments to the rhythm of the wind. Everything is made better with a carefree oscillation amid the timber.

My husband and I have observed these classmates, a diverse cast of characters, as they have assumed and swapped adult roles of pragmatist, optimist, comedian, support crew, and even pessimist. What they don’t realize now is that every future task will provide similar roles; only the names will differ.

The rollercoaster ride of personalities on this journey has been both entertaining and horrifying, but with the winds of change, hormones and temperaments seem to be stabilizing. The inescapable route to adulthood helps mitigate the wild zephyrs of life, and anxious parents are offered reassuring glimpses of hope. We know they still have much to learn, and we know that they will, in their own time.

As progenitors, the membranes of our reality are also being stretched with concerns for personal safety on their inaugural flights, and the inevitable bittersweet freedom of our soon-to-be empty nest. Seismic eye rolls and adamant attestations of confidence make us smile at the paradox of insecurity versus the excitement of new beginnings.

The thrill of those moments has not escaped us older folk as we empathize on this necessary rite of passage. The ensuing quiet after their departure will likely be deafening at first. The dangling pupa between the trees will be replaced with open space. Change is a comin’. We welcome its embrace.

The security of home that will go with them in a lightweight nylon hammock is comforting, not to mention efficient. New gusts will undoubtedly shake the fabric and its contents, but the familiarity and restfulness will calm the senses and hopefully permit rational thought. Success is a habit after all, and mockin’ time is a peaceful practice to get one there.

Watching the kids pack up the trusted slings, I know there will soon be a new one strung out in the yard. It will be a double-wide for hubby and me to snuggle in the outdoor auditorium as we help – albeit remotely – with the next phase of life’s perplexities that will undoubtedly light our phones up while we list to a new direction of drafts.

As we take over this haven, we’ll reminisce, we’ll ponder all our futures, and at long last, we’ll be able to crank our own tunes!