Changing seasons

Gardening and farming, at least here in the Northeast reminds me of the cycle of life.  This resemblance was brought home to me in two different ways yesterday.  My daughter Merry completed the course requirements and will receive her nursing degree on Saturday.  A new chapter in her life now begins.  Meanwhile, my mother had a minor stroke which has left her confused and her children in distress as we wonder what will happen during the course of her recovery and whether she will be able to live on her own again.  You plant the seed and the crop emerges, grows vigorously and thrives.  But as every farmer knows, the crop will be harvested at some point and the circle of life will continue to turn.  My thoughts this weekend will be with the graduate and the invalid.  I hope for the best for both of them, but I know that the inevitable passage of one generation makes way for the successor.  Birth and growth, decay and death are the constants in gardening, as in life.