A "tail" of time...

Funny how a pony tail can suddenly transform a baby into a little girl.

When did this happen? When did the infant I once held effortlessly with one arm transform into this walking, talking, curious little person... complete with opinions, personality and a sense of humor? The biggest mystery is how I simply didn't notice the time passing. Until today.

I remember a time when an hour felt like forever. One of my earliest memories is watching my Dad pack the trunk of the car before a Christmas trip to Lubbock and asking him how long it would take to get there. When he answered, "Eight hours," my mind was blown. I could not fathom how long that was, but I knew that Sesame Street was one hour and it lasted a long time. Eight hours might as well have been eternity.

So how did I get from there to here? Who can explain to me now why years pass like minutes in the life of the same girl who once believed an hour was never-ending? I guess somewhere along the way, we all become so used to this crazy thing called "time" that we don't even realize it's whizzing by.

But fortunately, for those who occasionally take the opportunity to step back and take a look, days like today happen. A simple walk occurs and "time" taps you on the shoulder, directs your attention to something that's grown gradually without you knowing it, and unveils this mystery before your eyes. In Avery today, I saw a girl replace a baby. She's more of a person now... More of a friend now... And I guess, God willing, it'll just continue to get better like this as time goes by.

I'm sure tomorrow I'll jump back into the flow of things and, once again, time will be invisible. But for some reason today, I enjoyed stepping outside of things and standing in the moment... In awe of the sneaky-speed of time and what it can produce when you're not looking.