Welcome Autumn

Today, officially, we welcome in the season of autumn. I’m a big fan of fall. I love the cool temperatures that ask for a wardrobe of big sweatshirts and sweaters; the changing of the leaves is magic; and there is nothing better than October baseball….yes, I completely plan on our Pirates being there!

As summer fades into fall, I realize how much my parents by the simple, ordered living of their lives and their connection to the land built into their children an order based on the seasons of the earth. Planting in spring; tending in summer; harvesting throughout late summer and early fall; tilling under the corn stalks and removing the tomato stakes; planting bulbs; bringing in the flowers as the first frost approached; covering the picnic table; putting on the storm windows --- all actions required in their due season.

In symmetry and rhythm with the world’s turning, my mother decorated the house in accord with the seasons --- another helpful reminder to be seek to live in rhythm with the earth.

For years we have been bemoaning how our capitalist bent infringes upon our balance with the seasons. Halloween candy has been in stores for over two weeks and Thanksgiving greeting cards are already on the shelves. There is a lot in our modern society that disconnects us from nature, the bigger world around us, and each other. For our sake we need to get back into a balance and become better dancers with creation’s rhythm.

I say today’s Autumnal Equinox, which is one of only two days of the year in which daytime and nighttime are exactly of equal length, is the perfect time to begin! Break out your biggest, most comfortable sweatshirt and join me in getting back to balance!

sj;