Autumn is Coming

To paraphrase Ned Stark from A Game of Thrones (and change the season) - autumn is coming. It feels so beautiful outside today. I love being able to finally open my windows and let some cool air in. Now let's just hope it stays this way! Weather in South Carolina tends to be on the milder side when it comes to the cooling down of autumn and winter (and on that winter note, I hope we actually have one this year).

I'm not sure how colorful the leaves will be this year. It's been a bit on the dry side. We'll try to go up to North Carolina and drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway at least one weekend in October. We might even make a camping trip out of it. There's nothing quite like the autumn color of the Blue Ridge. I think that to me, Heaven will look a lot like October in the mountains.

Autumn is also the time of harvest, the time to reap what you sow and prepare for the dark nights of winter ahead. It's a great time to look back on the year that's past and reflect on all the things that happened, whether they are good things or bad. Everything happens for a reason, and even if something seems really terrible at the time, it usually means something better came along after and the terrible time was just you learning to let go.

My husband and I got married in August and it was beautiful and wonderful and we're so glad that everyone could be there. My cousin is getting married in October and I wish I could go back to Iowa for it, but it's just not going to work out. I'm sad that I can't make it, but I know that her wedding will be just as beautiful and just as wonderful and that she's starting out on an amazing journey that I now find myself on as a new wife. I wish her all the luck in the world.

The leaves fall in autumn, drifting down on the back of the wind to cover the ground like a russet blanket. Life is like a leaf sometime. One by one, old pieces of you are discarded, falling into memory. You are constantly changing and growing in life, just like a tree. Admire a tree one day. Contemplate on how magnificent it is, one of the most marvelous living creatures on this planet. They can grow for so many years, getting taller and wider, forever rooted and yet constantly stretching. The path to enlightenment can be found in a tree. There was a reason that the ancient Celts held them in reverence. It might help us to do the same. A tree offers shade, it offers sanctuary, some offer food, and it offers fresh air for us to breathe. The world would be a sadder, more difficult place without trees. They are an important part of our ecosystem and vital to our survival. I love trees. There's nothing quite like a walk through a forest, no matter the season, marveling at the trees and the flowers and the life living underneath and among the branches.

Take time today to reflect on your own harvest. Did you plant the proper seeds? Do you feel fulfilled spiritually, emotionally, physically? If so, that's wonderful and rejoice. If not, then perhaps now is the time to change that, to make the decision that you will not settle for anything less than a perfect harvest.

Now is the time for cooler nights, for colored leaves, for football, for apples, for carving pumpkins and baking pies, for being thankful for all that you have. Enjoy your autumn! I hope that you always have a bountiful harvest full of love, joy, and peace.