Autumn Winds

Fall has been knocking at the window the past few nights.  I can smell the brisk and cool air through the blinds.  I have watched the moon dance over the dancing trees.  Nighttime hums with anticipation while critters sing with enchantment around the pond. There’s a sense of awareness for what is ahead, perhaps because of the dry and cool winds that appear as we journey through sleep. The changing of the leaves has begun in certain places, especially in our back woods.  We get the first signs of the season in this area because we are on the top of the mountains.  The nights are getting cooler, in the low 50’s F. The wind chimes have been dancing throughout the nights and I am giddy with the anticipation of another pre-autumn day.  There is so much to learn from each of the seasons.  The magic that arrives through nature is breathtakingly beautiful.We have all heard that saying, “there is a season to everything.” When you live in Florida there really isn’t much of a change.  The subtle changes in the climate, from hot, hot, hotter, don’t really make for changes or modifications.  But here, the metamorphoses in each season make for new beginnings.  There is the upcoming fall: the harvesting of the land; leaves burning into reds, oranges, and yellows and then dying; the ground being covered with their fall to insulate the plants for the upcoming winter. It is a playground for the artist within. Then, everything goes into sleep mode, hibernates, during the winter, as snow falls and nourishes the land; Jack Frost knocking at your window; Christmas bringing loved ones together.  Spring then arrives, bringing new life, budding into action, allowing life to seed, wake, and take over the land again.  Summer, well, after coming from Florida, summer here is really delightful. This year it has been mild and more like hot spring days. Summer is a chance to bring the body into youth with outdoor activities, picnics, and family vacations.  Each season allows the mind, body and spirit to acclimate slowly to the environment.  Each one brings a chance for new beginnings and the knowledge that everything has an ending.The rhythm of life here and the seasons are remarkable.  I marvel at the opportunities of what each one will bring.  Beginnings and endings are so clearly marked in nature throughout the changing of each cycle.  I welcome this season like a lost friend who’s shown up at my door with a pumpkin pie in one hand a cup of spice Chai tea in the other.  I am ready for the union of fall and the sense of community that comes with it.