Day 5 - 229 -- One Last Time

Today began with clouds and became a blue sky sunny day by afternoon. Temperatures were cooler again overnight. When I walked out this morning it was 17C (63F). The air was drier as the humidity was leaving. I stood on the front porch and one thought came to mind. It felt a bit like Fall. When I mentioned this at work, two others filled in the sentence before I had to say the F word. The quality of light is changing so it looked different. The air smelled different. So, it wasn't just the cooler overnight temps. The strip of sunshine on the kitchen floor disappears in late June and had just reappeared in the past 2-3 weeks. Last week it was about 1.5 inches wide and this morning it was about 3 inches -- so almost doubled in a week or so. In mid-winter this patch reaches 3-4 feet in width. So, the sun is not as high in the sky as it is in the midst of summer. To me this is summer beginning its long goodbye.

At the office, the long goodbye came to an end today. I left the office I've inhabited for 20 years and one week for the last time. Next week a new colleague will make this place home. There is so much history wrapped up in that room. Many amazing experiences occurred there -- wonderful phone calls and sad phone calls, great interactions and stressful interactions, exciting written documents and incomplete documents. All in all, it has been a communications hub. Soul searching conversations with students, friends and colleagues brought shared enlightenment -- in person, by phone or online. Technology changes have been huge over that time and the equipment that has shared the space with me has changed dramatically. I stood in the room as I carried my book bag, plant and a box of magazines. It looked naked, but still felt warm and inviting. I took the time to thank the space and ask that it treat those who come later as well as it did me. I turned and closed the door -- the one still swollen from the humidity -- with a bit of tug, took a deep breath and walked out into the early evening sun. Next week will feel weird I'm sure -- walking in the same building entrance but going up a floor and into a different room to begin to find a new way of working in a new space and room layout.

In my head as I was taking the last boxes out of the office today, I heard a line repeating in my head. The lyric was a bit different than it had been written -- I changed "could be" to "will be" and I do know that it is <smile>. Enjoy!

The Last Time -- The Rolling Stones