FALL

Fall is coming… boldly crashing thru the back door. We have had a winter rain and winds that snapped us out of the lazy summer lull we have been enjoying. No one likes hot hot.. but we were not ready for the cold winter weather either. Could we just have days of 70 or so… blue skies and some puffy white pretty clouds?

Fall is always the season of new beginnings. Maybe each season is a hallmark of beginnings. In deep winter we have the NEW YEAR, a time to resolve new things and to take measure of our past and set some new goals. Never mind that the temperature hovers around freezing at night and the early mornings and that I go months without seeing daylight because it is dark when I leave and dark when I come home. There are soups in the crock pot and the fire crackling (ok.. gas doesn’t exactly crackle…) There is still the feeling of newness as the months march along.

Then there is spring when the crocuses poke thru (ok it is technically still winter when they appear). But we delight in the tulips and daffodils which liven the dull landscape. Each tree that blossoms is like a new voice in the choir ready to be heard. I love watching the trees leaf out and show every possible color of green. The flowers add their shocks of color that make waves over the landscape. We peruse the produce aisle for new salad greens to brighten those heavy winter meals. SPRING is awesome. Every morning is a feast as some new tree/shrub/perennial announces its appearance.

Summer is the time when we shift gears. The work week is only the bridge to the weekend where we plan to ride bikes, camp, and play in the water, visiting and having company and vacationing to places away from home, to enjoying luscious fruits and vegetables. It is such a social time for barbecues and outside hanging. Our homes become bigger as we pass thru the halls to get to the windows to see what each day brings. It is the calm before the hectic fall that allows us time to reflect and enjoy the fruits .. fruits and veggies from the garden, fruits of our labor, fruits of our hearts. Summer is the quietest inside because so much is happening outside.

But, then here is Fall. School starts. Even though I do not attend school, a part of me is ready to reinvent myself. To buckle down and make things happen before the winter drives me inside. I want to buy new clothes and wear warm comfy sweaters when it is still 85. I want to buy new pens and paper and think about writing again. The trees go out with a flash announcing their hibernations with the richest of colors, first up in their branches and then down on the ground. We have to clean up the mess and prepare for the winter. Fall is a time when the air smells differently and the birds that have flitted all over my yard all summer start moving on. I think that fall is really a time of transition between the lazy days of summer and the lazy snuggly days of winter.

So my point is… there seems to be a frenzy; camping last weekend; Portland to Coast this weekend; the trellis needs finishing; the yard cleaning. So much to do, so little time. Same drill, a different year. DKU