A return, to new things

Finishing a season of your life ultimately leads to the beginning of another.  That would be why--not that long ago--I found myself approaching the phenomenon of end/beginning, asking: 

What now shall I do?

Clear to me was the need to stay put.  Tired I was, and the thought of establishing myself in a new place was overwhelming to say the least.  'Here I am,' I thought, 'my feet on the ground, my community solidly around me.  I'm not leaving.'  

Fine.  Ok.  Great.

But the question remained:  Staying put then, what now shall I do?

And then, one day, the answer fell out of the sky.

And then, over the next few months, it all fell into place:

My new thing would be Assistant Directing the Institute housed in this cute little cottage, which I had wandered past for all of my Penn State years, and for which I had inexplicably gathered a special affinity in my heart.

And so, in these first weeks of a return to a semester, 

I have settled in.

I have begun my new tasks,

have rejoiced in my new office

tucked inside that cute little cottage.

But I have also rejoiced in a return to the things
that I have long loved about my living here,

such as the walk to and from home,
that passes through this town I call mine.

And then, this week,

a return to the classroom,
to new students and learning and moments full of fun.

A new season, mixed with just enough of the old.

Because my God is big, and the keeper of my way:
This now shall I do, with gratitude.