Swallows’ Flight

Does anyone know if the swallows have left on their migration yet? I saw several only the other day ... and I noted their presence. I recall from my big city days, that the swallows were always gone before the end of August. And so I remarked particularly to myself, that they stay longer out here, in the Fraser Valley. But they’re here one day, and gone the next, apparently. I miss them already.

And while I’m asking, when do the turkey vultures leave? Is it soon? And how will I know that my last sighting, is indeed my last? I’ve missed any number of ‘last’ occasions in my life. The last time I wiped drool from my babies’ faces, the last occasion I walked them to school, or stayed up waiting and wondering when they’d be safely home after an evening of partying. I didn’t know at the time. The ‘lasts’ passed without comment.

If I had known that those were the last, I would have wiped more tenderly, walked more slowly, and waited and wondered with more concern and patience. Would that I could go back, to see my children as babies, just one more time! I miss them.

And as I consider which will be the last apple to fall and which the last hazelnut ( I’m still obsessed with picking them) I come to wondering when will be my last time to climb a ladder onto the roof, when I won’t consider it would be fun to try snow-boarding, or when I won’t drive at night any more. Will I note the passing?

But I’m distracted by looking at the mountainside near here ... the maple trees are standing out from the firs now, as they go more orange and brown, and the firs stay green. The vine maples along the road towards town too, are showing off their first red leaves. (I do like vine maples, and hope to have some near my house ... or where I can see them from my windows.) As the deciduous trees head towards winter they flare up briefly with colour before fading back into the forest to remain unnoticed ‘til the first flush of spring.

I can let go of the maple leaves, I know they will be back. I have let my children go too, there are always children in my life and my daughters are always my daughters.

But what about the salmon? The cod stocks on the east coast? And humpback whales. Can you begin to imagine what it would be like, if they were never to come again?

Can you even begin?

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