Time Isn't Kind or Unkind

Time isn't kind or unkind, you liked to say.
But I wonder to who and
what it is you're saying today.

Mary Anne, do you remember
the tree by the river
when we were seventeen?

Dark canyon road, I was coy in the half-moon;
happy just to be with you,
and you were happy for me.

Tree By The River-By Iron & Wine




At home with my sick boy today & have been thinking about this song a lot recently.  The imagery catches me most of all--I love Iron & Wine--have for a while & I especially love the cover of Such Great Heights which I've written about on this blog quite a few times.  I am especially taken by the the line, "Time isn't kind or or unkind."  I think that is especially true.  People like to say that "time heals all wounds," to use a well-worn phrase, but does it?  For me, time sometimes is unkind.  If I'm in the middle of a conflict, and it can't be resolved right away, or if there's something that I need to talk to someone about that's serious & I can't speak to them until much, much later, well time is my enemy.  I tend to sit & overthink whatever is going on & that is. not. good.  System overload.  But the flip-side to that is that time is kind--& yes, that hackneyed phrase works--kids learn to deal with their parents' divorces & accept change, for example--that takes time. Time isn't kind or unkind--it is both.

But the entire song paints a beautiful picture of young love & looking back on it years down the road & possibly after many other relationships as well.  I know I wonder about my first true love & what he's like & doing today.  Not enough to actively find out--but I'm curious to know what kind of person he is now from when we were 17.

Yup, feeling a bit nostalgic today--whatcha' gonna do but embrace it.