Whenever I hear this old song, I feel somewhat melancholy and sad about life going by so quickly.  This lovely Joni Mitchell song makes me want to extend our homeschool years so that I can keep homeschooling my children forever.   Really though it makes me realize how fast the seasons pass, and although I want to hang on to the years, this is the Lord’s will for our lives here on this earth.  I’m so grateful for two things.  I’m blessed to be able to homeschool because the years do not rush by quite as fast…I’m also so grateful to know that this life is just the beginning.  This time on earth is simply a visit for us and we are pilgrims and strangers here.  Our true home is in heaven and we will live for eternity with our Lord.  Certainly this song makes me want to focus on the eternal, but it also causes me to drink in every moment here on earth with my family and those I love.  I want to cherish each moment with my boys and my husband knowing that these days will not last forever. I hope you enjoy this song…..which is a flash from the past…but to me it is a classic that will never go out of style!  ~Anne

(Be sure to turn off the website music before playing this song)

 

Yesterday, a child came out to wander
Caught a dragonfly inside a jar
Fearful when the sky was full of thunder
And tearful at the falling of a star

And the seasons they go ’round and ’round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We’re captive on the carousel of time
We can’t return we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

Then, the child moved ten times ’round the seasons
Skated over ten clear frozen streams
Words like, “When you’re older”, must appease him
And promises of someday make his dreams

Sixteen springs and sixteen summers gone now
Cartwheels turn to car wheels through the town
And they tell him, “Take your time. It won’t be long now.
‘Til you drag your feet to slow the circles down”

And the seasons they go ’round and ’round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We’re captive on the carousel of time
We can’t return we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

So the years spin by and now the boy is twenty
Though his dreams have lost some grandeur coming true
There’ll be new dreams, maybe better dreams and plenty
Before the last revolving year is through.

And the seasons they go ’round and ’round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We’re captive on the carousel of time
We can’t return, we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and ’round and ’round
In the circle game
And go ’round and ’round and ’round in the circle game.