It is always surprising how quickly summer gives way to fall. Labor Day is that the border crossing that tells us we have left summer and have entered the beginning of autumn, the precursor to a long winter. Schools and churches start revving up for the program year. Clubs and organizations resume regular meetings. Committees put forward their agendas for the year’s work.
It is far too easy for us to lose sight of the fact that seasons are not determined by the calendar and have more fluidity in arrival. Summer is not quite over, and fall when it arrives is not yet winter.
It is time for us to enjoy the changes in this time of year as much as we enjoy the way in which winter gives way little by little to spring, with flowers, and grasses, budding leaves and emerging life.
In this temperate climate we can observe this twilight time in which the productive earth prepares for its winter-night hibernation. It is a cozy and comforting time of apples and pumpkins, chilly nights, of colored leaves and first frost crystals. Guiding once again through this life cycle if we have eyes with which to see it. If we have the will to take a few minutes daily to appreciate the gift of the day and of the changing seasons without rushing headlong into all the busyness the post-Labor Day time brings with it.
Don
Fall thistle
