"But change is the kind of force that requires neither your belief nor your permission. It happens, with or without a by-your-leave, and you find yourself getting swept up and carried along whether you like it or not."

These past few days have been good, deeply and truly good. But they have all the marks and textures of time running out... of the calm before the storm. And though I know that time does not actually speed up, it is about to feel that way. I want to hold on and I feel myself trying, straining to grasp more firmly all that is fleeting and passing. But it will not be held.

People are moving, growing, and --most markedly-- leaving. I want to dig my heels in, drop all else and lose myself to the making of memories and the drawing out of goodbyes. However, life, my life, is making demands that I build. It is not mere busyness at work here, but genuinely important and foundational things which need attention. Now. This week. During these selfsame days.