"Like a little wind that ruffles the curtains at dawn"

"Men do change, and change comes like a little wind that ruffles the curtains at dawn, and it comes like the stealthy perfume of wildflowers hidden in the grass."

The words of John Steinbeck, who most of us remember as the author of the Grapes of Wrath...one of my longest summer reading books other than Native Son (my all time favorite book), and one I had to read at a time when I would rather be playing the Oregon Trail on my computer than reading about the awful, depressing journey of a family....but indeed his words are eloquent nonetheless.

My apartment faces a back alley where the wind whips through in the mornings heralding the sun. It is comforting to know that we are not expected to change overnight, but steadily, thoughtfully, and in whispers.

My job is about to change, and I can already sense a change in myself. I woke up this morning refreshed...I bought a coffee and a Washington Post for the first time in awhile. I used to be all "newsed" out by the weekend, that all I could do was watch reruns of Friends and Barefoot Contessa. I was so tired of reading, writing, and thinking someone else's thoughts, that I forgot how to think on my own.

Yes, change is refreshing.