A Time For Everything

I go to the local library a lot. Last Saturday a book in a display caught my eye: "Cottage Dreams" ("Torpardrömmar" in Swedish). A very philosophical, down to earth and beautiful book about what it's like to live in a small, old, red cottage in the Swedish countryside. The wooden house and its creaking doors and smokey fire places. The surrounding woods with glades, lakes and tall trees whispering in evening. The sunny garden with ancient flowers, fruit trees, weeds and vegetables. The shy wild animals and the hungry although affectionate domestic critters. The smooth linen cloth descending from the blue fields long ago.

The very last chapter is about time and how everything changes, but also returns. Although I'm not a Christian, I very much appreciated the quote from Ecclesiastes 3:

"There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace."