Seasoned

I remember when the notion of being in full bloom had such meaning and excitement for me. I felt enthused, even enthralled by my own blooming and the blooming of all those around me, friends, companions and lovers. That has changed as I and those I know have become more seasoned.

The experience of blooming is still a thing of beauty for me, wonderful to see, touch and enjoy. For me, the freshness of blooming is such an expression of all that lies latent within and offers an alluring promise of what is yet to be.

I still adore and enjoy the blossomed beauty of those around me, much as I do when I walk through my garden. The joy I feel is real and moves my heart to open much as the blossoms do themselves. The scent and presence of blossoms are lovely to experience and behold.

Now I know there is more. I now understand and savor the beauty and depth that only passing seasons can draw forth and produce. No longer only full of promise as blossoms once were, pears hang on the tree, lush with the sweetness and fullness that was scantly present before. There is a ripeness and fullness that comes only because of long days spent basking in the warmth of many suns.

The ripeness has a fullness and depth only dreamed of in those early days of blossoming, before the seasoning began. The touch of ripened fruit has so much more intense awareness than the yielding, ephemeral petals of a blossom recently opened. The fruit is no longer so fragile and fragrant as the blossom once was. It has become the serious and seasoned opening to indulgent taste, an invitation to savor the abundance within.

The passing, almost illusory beauty of the blossom has been replaced by the richness of a well-appointed, succulent source of delight. This is the real thing that only the passing of seasons might produce. It is no longer a lovely promise of things to come.

The seasoned taste has at last arrived. It is the result and embodiment of days upon days of sun, wind and rain. The seasoned fruit is lush with the sweet-flowing juices of a life well-lived.

I have lovely memories of days that witnessed full bloom in myself and in others close to me. I now know that the realization of well-seasoned ripeness in myself and others is a source of even greater joy.

This might be so only because those around me and I have been ripened by days lived in such a way that they have left us so full of seasoning. What I am noticing is that it now seems to require but scant effort to bring the sweet experience of presence into the arena of engagement.

This is the result of the passing of seasons. This is what we have become. There is no need to try hard, we only need to be present, reveal ourselves as we truly are, and the juices flow. It is a time to enjoy the seasoned, sweet presence of one another.

I remember it well. It was so wonderful to feel the joy of blossoming. How could I have know then the joy of ripened, seasoned fruit yet to come.