I always get pangs of strange feelings and emotions during the fall. The weather, the changing of the leaves and whatever else is going on seems to be picked up by a part of my brain that I am not conscious of. This input and detection of the environment is processed in some weird way that adds up to these emotions that occasionally sweep over me. It stops me dead in my tracks. Instead of not noticing life passing me by, this feeling is one of having a sense that time is moving on. I am becoming older. Another year is passing. I don’t normally sense this, have these thoughts, or really stop and notice such things. Instead I more often than not can have the common “that happened that many years ago?” reaction when I hear or talk to someone about a past event.
It is weird too how time seems to speed up as we get older. A long summer day when I was a kid was like forever. Driving down to the beach I went to in the summer ( http://www.discoverseasideheights.com/ ) took a long time. It was only 70 miles and about an hour and a half. Presently the days are getting shorter and last night it got dark at 7 PM. I looked at my wife about 7:10 and asked her “how did it suddenly start getting dark so early?”
Time, change, noticing, not noticing, emotions or whatever – I need to remember to pay attention that what I have is the present moment. To make the most of it, and enjoy myself.