Autumn’s Awe Moments

“Fall, leaves fall; die, flowers, away; lengthen night and shorten day;

Every leaf speaks bliss to me. Fluttering from the autumn tree” —Emily Bronte, Fall, Leaves, Fall

I took this tonight and had to save it with dozens of other sunsets I have taken. I never get tired of them.

How do you feel about the fall season? Some are invigorated and happy with the cooler weather. Others feel an uncomfortable nagging feeling of sadness. Is it that plants and grasses are dying and soon the landscape will be bare and brown? The cold is approaching and for me there is an expectation of warm blankets, cozy slippers and hibernating with good books. There is a wonderful warmth that greets you when you come in from picking up groceries, shoveling your car out of a drift or taking a walk in the white beauty of a new snowfall.

For some, fall signals the onset of Season Affective Disorder or SAD. My mother always said the fall made her sad and I didn’t quite understand until I got older. I get it now—in some ways we are more alone, more shut in as winter sets in. We really tasted the stark aloneness during the pandemic. I’m privileged to live where I can find others to talk to, play games with, if I choose. But it is good to know that if I need help, there are neighbors who would come if I called.

So as we lean into fall, I pray you find the peace in the beauty of the land, and are invigorated by coolness and the beginning of a new season. Don’t shut yourself in. Find things that are fun and that keep you engaging with other people.