Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
"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; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace."
- Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Summer was good this year. A little too warm, a little too dry, but it was fine.
Winter last year was cold. The roads were bad. I enjoyed the snowfall but wished it stayed off the roadways. Winter this year may be worse, depending on who you want to believe.
Upcoming now is autumn. A season of change.
The leaves turn from green to brown/yellow/red. Geese and ducks and other birds gather and then fly south. Farmers harvest their crops. Squirrels and other critters begin to store fat in their bodies for the winter season.
It's natural for things to change.
Children and teen-agers have returned to school, where they'll learn that if X + 3X = 12, then X=3. Or maybe they'll learn to spell "logorrhea" or "tatterdemalion." In Spanish they may be taught that "Dios los cria y ellos se juntan" is the Spanish equivalent for "Birds of a feather flock together."
Football, soccer and volleyball season are in full swing. Students and parents are sporting the schools' colors. Wawasee is wearing their forest green and old gold; Warsaw is sporting their burnt orange and black; Tippecanoe fans are chanting, "Kelly green and bright gold!"
Businesses and homes no longer have their air conditioners on, or at least have them on less. If it gets a little warm, rotating fans will do now. Windows are left open, as are screen doors. Very few people are swimming at the lakes.
Boats and jet skiis are being put away. Shorts are being traded in for blue jeans or sweatpants. Short-sleeved T-shirts are out, long-sleeved T-shirts are becoming the norm.
New television shows are premiering, mostly geared towards teen-agers this year and lacking in their minority representation. The shows are darker, grittier and less family-oriented, but still aren't expected to be very good.
Webster's Dictionary has eight different definitions for the word "change." There are four definitions for "change" as a verb and four as a noun. The clearest definition is: "a substitution, alteration or variation."
Substitution: The restaurant has run out of ranch dressing so you ask for Italian. Alteration: Your pants are too long so you have them hemmed. Variation: Instead of buying plain bologna, you go with pickle-loaf bologna. It's still bologna.
Change can be small or large. It can be gradual or sudden. Changes can hurt someone, help someone or hurt someone and help someone simultaneously.
Everything changes, nothing is exempt.
A green, ugly small caterpillar will morph into a decadent, multi-colored beautiful butterfly. An ugly duckling becomes a swan.
Humans change physically, especially during puberty. Voice change. More body hair. Taller. Body odor.
Everything changes. Nothing is exempt.
Kosciusko County and the towns and cities that make up the county are changing. There's nothing legal and moral one can do to prevent the changes. If the area doesn't allow a certain degree of controlled growth and change, it'll change anyhow, but not for the better.
In the last two years, I've moved five times. I've lived in three different cities. I've lived with several different roommates. Nothing has been constant, it's continuously changed. I've adapted to the fact that my life is always changing.
And I like change. It keeps life from becoming boring. Change changes the way I look at life, at people and at myself.
So, for those who refuse to accept change, I can only offer these words: deal with it.
I'm eagerly awaiting the first leaf to fall. It'll mean autumn has definitely arrived.
The season of change.
