Being a part of writers’ groups the last four years that focus on life stories and memoir, makes one examine one’s life and all its special moments. Fall memories are some of my best. Nature explodes in colour, harvest tables are full of the garden and orchard’s best, school begins anew with new teachers, new friends, new challenges.
It’s a new beginning. An end to the leisure and travel of the summer, the outdoor living, and the slowed down pace of vacations and cottages. I see it as more of an end of a year than January 1st as so much is shut down and new experiences begin. And yet, with all the excitement of new beginnings comes the stillness and beauty as nature shuts down and moves into slumber mode. A new cycle truly begins. At this time of year we have such a dichotomy of slow/fast, warm/cold, growth/harvest, busy/relaxed.
How wonderful autumn is. These few precious weeks of colour bursts and dancing leaves, warm days and cool nights, are to be savoured, valued each day for their brevity and glory. Soon enough the temperatures will plunge, Jack Frost will begin his artwork, and snow will cover the ground under a blanket of white.
But for now, the world is a canvas of reds and golds. The sun shines high in blue skies, the pumpkins in the fields create a carpet of bright orange. I hope you get out and enjoy it while it lasts.