To everything, there is a season — and reason

That first truly hard frost in the fall that turns tomato plants in the garden black always comes too soon. As I write this column, my dining room table and kitchen counters are piled with a variety of tomatoes, peppers, rosemary and parsley.

I have already canned, frozen, dried and pickled everything we need and more, but letting any of those vegetables and herbs go to waste is not in my DNA.

Like many of you, I was raised by people who were raised by people who lived through the Great Depression. Perhaps my grandparents’ experiences helped shape my thoughts on food waste.

Living in the country, uninhibited by city lights, we are blessed with a view of the sky with its countless stars, constellations, meteor showers and even the Milky Way. The lack of light pollution enhances the beauty of each sunset and sunrise.

Standing in my yard, twice this year, I watched with naked eyes an aurora borealis, or northern lights, offer a stunning light display.

Charged particles from the sun collided with gases in the Earth’s atmosphere, creating vibrant greens, purples, pinks and reds. Many took photos of the phenomenon, but none captured the wonder of experiencing it in person.

It is not often we get to see a comet without help from binoculars or a telescope. But this year, already filled with astronomical treats, we did.

It was a crisp evening when Jim and I stood outside with anticipation to view massive Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas. With a two-miles-in-diameter head and a tail of ice and dust estimated to be as long as 18 million miles, it was a remarkable sight.

The older I get, the less excited I am about the arrival of winter, but I cannot imagine living anywhere the four seasons are not the norm.

As stewards of farms and ranches, we know the benefits of each season for growing crops and raising livestock. Those four distinct seasons help us learn to live in the moment. Every year, we only get a few months of each one.

One of my favorite passages in the Bible is Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, but especially the first two verses: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted.”

Seasons of the year are often compared with the seasons of our lives. It is our hope to live to a ripe old age, having lived and experienced fully every one of those seasons. When someone you love dies in the prime season of life, it feels tragic and unfair.

As friends and friends that are like family are celebrating a life well lived and grieving the transition to death, I pray they will eventually find comfort in embracing the understanding that death is not an end, but a natural part of life’s journey.