It’s raining, and the sudden temperature drops have made me regret every moan and complaint I’ve had about the hot summers days now gone. The coolness of the mornings have me pulling out a sweater before trudging to the bus stop or checking the mail.
But in the evenings, I like to walk and walk, and see how the change doesn’t only affect me, but everything around me. I love the colors of the leaves, watching the green ripen to rich golds and bold reds. I must confess, the loss of those hot days is not grieved for long, because this time of year is my favorite, as many of you may agree.
Apples, pumpkins, and cinnamon spice, can you smell them?
Comfort of your favorite blanket, brought back to wrap around you on those chilling afternoons. Quiet, winds whispering through those leaves, the grass swaying, and the squirrels collecting acorns to prepare for the winter ahead.
“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:” Ecclesiastes 3
He hath made everything beautiful in his time…
This is the season which reminds me to slow down, appreciate the beauty of the world around me, and prepare for what is to come. I must admit I am envious of the squirrel. Instinct, survival, it knows how to prepare in the seasons ahead. It gathers, it waits, it stays hunkered down in its den until the cold blows over.
Oh, how I wish I could hunker down like a squirrel in my den. When it rains, when it’s cold, and especially when it snows. Then I’d miss the beauty God has laid before us to behold. As I walk each evening, I pick up a leaf, I pluck a flower, or sometimes stop to gaze a bird. I absorb the beauty, draw in the peace, and embrace the change unfolding around me.
To many times I feel we get to caught up in the busy. To many times, I feel we must put the brakes on and come to a screeching halt to shift gears and get blindsided. We don’t prepare, we don’t absorb, we don’t watch what is coming.
Find a red leaf or sit and sip a warm cup of apple cider from your front porch. Take a walk and see the vibrant colors because next fall they won’t be the same, nothing ever stays the same. It changes and evolves as we change and grow in the beauty and grace of our perspectives.
Take that red leaf and write one thing you love about this season or a verse that brings you joy, and place it somewhere you will see it daily. This is mine.
