Somehow when I wasn’t paying attention it got to be October. The last time I paid attention to time of year was back in August when I was returning from a few days at the beach and was lamenting the end of summer, wondering where the time had gone. Today I made what will likely be my last batch of sun tea for the year–a summer ritual for me. It was interesting trying to figure out where to set the jug where it would remain in the sun long enough to brew the tea. The sun hanging lower in the sky these days meant I had to chase it around the yard to keep the jug in a clear line. I set the it down in a thin pile of leaves that had fallen from the maple that stands in the front yard. I’ve noticed as I walk the dog around the yard these days that the leaves are beginning to drop from some of my trees. Over the next couple of weeks enough will accumulate that I’ll have to begin the raking process that will continue over the next two months. And I find myself once again keenly aware of the passage of time.
A year ago I left California, marking the changes in season as my brother and I drove across the country. Through the mountains of California, Utah, and Wyoming where the nighttime temperatures dropped into the 30s and across the plains and cornfields of Nebraska, Iowa, and Indiana where the wind rattled through the drying cornstalks and pushed the massive turbines that dotted the countryside, we made our way along. After I dropped my brother off in Indiana, Honor and I wound our way through the picturesque hills and mountains of Eastern Ohio and Pennsylvania where the first oranges, yellows and reds began dotting the trees along the turnpike as I cruised toward Maryland. Now having lived here a year, acclimating myself to the fast pace of life here in the Capitol area, I nevertheless find a comforting familiarity to the sights, smells, sounds, and feel of autumn.
Autumn is my favorite season of the year. The shortening days, cooling temperatures, the coloring of the leaves and fields from green to reds to amber-brown as the plants and animals ready for the coming of the winter all signal a time of slowing down to reflect on the year as it draws to a close. The autumn is time for bringing in the harvest, and has me thinking about what I will be reaping this year–what have I sown over the past 12 months? Among other things, I have continued sowing seeds of gratitude, of persistence and perseverance, of faith and optimism. I have watered and fertilized the roots of family connection, as well as planting new relationships with new acquaintances and coworkers. I have fed my spirit and nurtured my creativity through meditation, fasting, and prayer and continued to draw on inner resources to keep me standing strong in the midst of the occasional storm that arose. I am grateful for the coming opportunities to reflect on so many things that have occurred within the last year.
Over the next few weeks the weather will shift from the last hurrah of summer (it was 88 degrees for much of this past week) to the more seasonal 60s and 70s of autumn, and the evenings will darken increasingly earlier until we “fall back” at the end of the month. I look forward to this time of reflection, particularly as we approach holidays that focus on the giving of thanks, sharing of meals, and exchanging of gifts. I am grateful for the opportunity to continue to share these lessons in gratitude in the days and weeks ahead. May it continue to be so!
