New, Ageless

It's a gilded afternoon, timeless like air in amber. Unseasonably warm, bathed in clear winter sunlight. Distant shouts and laughter wander far on the soft breeze.

Yarn running through my fingers. Click, loop, slide, slip.

Grandpa seated to my right, eyes gazing at distant unseen horizons. He is reminiscing for me (for himself), relating long ago army days- a time for him of ceaseless activity, of purpose, the promise of his young family, the adventure, times of horror and of valor.

Click, loop, slide, slip.

Young boys running, flying, feet skimming the grassy field. The dogs race. Someone falls, laughing.

Click, loop, slide, slip.

I watch my husband emerge from the woods, pinestraw in his hair, smiling. Watching himself, reincarnated gleefully in these noisy, boisterous little beings we call our own. Boyhood anew.

Click, loop, slide, slip.

The wheel turns. Our time of ceaseless activity, of purpose, of the promise of our young family. Our adventure. New, and ageless. Grandpa sighs.

Click, loop, slide, slip. I set aside my knitting.

And the breeze sighs with him.