Empty Nests and Bird Drawings

So, no photos this time. Only words. I've been away from this blog for awhile. Life runs in cycles, seasons. This Fall season, both of my children went off to college. One North. One South. That leaves me with something I'm being labeled as for the very first time. Something I've always been afraid of. A day I never thought would come. A day I could never imagine coming!
I am too young to be a...gulp...empty nester. I can't believe it.
So, all of this extra time is available to me. Extra time to think. Not that I needed that! But I have been doing some extra deep thinking lately. I can feel a change in season. Life season. I have to admit, I'm a bit afraid of growing older. And I don't mean that in a bad way, we all keep getting older. I mean, getting old. Old in my thoughts. Old in my ideas. Old and tired in my mind. I don't want my mind to get so old that I don't continue to explore new ideas.
I was in the library the other day. Looking in the art section. I overheard an elderly woman, maybe 30 years older than me, ask the librarian "Where are the books about how to draw birds?" The younger me reacted by thinking, oh god, this is what I have to look forward to as I get older? And not in a good way. I thought, I'm going to be so bored, alone, and desperate for something to do, I'll be tracking down the librarian. Looking for books on how to draw birds. The older me thought, hey, this is what I have to look forward to as I get older! I will have done so many things by the time I'm her age. I will be going through a list of things I still want to do, and one day it will occur to me. I never learned how to draw birds! This is the attitude I would like to hold on to as an empty nester. I'm happy for my children, pursuing their dreams. I can look forward to a time when I have done so many things that all I might have left to do is learn how to draw birds.