Walking to work the other day I saw someone walking ahead of me swerve suddenly to the side and LEAP to crush an especially crunchy bunch of leaves. It made me laugh, and feel glad to know I am not the only one who does that. I love sound of crunching leaves, I almost feel like they are giggling with me.
My two favorite seasons are the in-between seasons, Spring and Fall. Summer and Winter are lots of fun, but nothing beats the thrill and excitement of the smell of change in the air. It is hard to say which of the two seasons I love more - in the fall, I claim autumn, and come May, I will say spring. I have always loved the saying that fall is a second spring, with every leaf a flower. Perhaps that is why I love it so much. Because I really do love autumn - the air has a unique flavor, tinted with both melancholy and euphoria. It is achingly beautiful, almost overwhelming in it's beauty, the grandeur almost breaks your heart- the land is giving one last hurrah, and celebrating the summer life they have enjoyed by throwing a party and wearing their best formal gowns.
I went for a nice long walk this evening, just to drink it all in - the aspen and birches are bright yellows, and look like flaming torches - lighting my way to my next adventure. The maples are just starting to turn, and are a funny mix of green, yellow and orange, like they have just been to the hair dresser and gotten frosted highlights - but it wont be long before they really burst into flame.
I read a poem once that I have never been able to find again that I always think of at this time of year, comparing fall tree's with Moses' burning bush on Mt. Sinai. Perhaps it the poem didn't even explicitly make the connection, but led me to make it myself - but now, in every firey autumn tree I see a miracle and remember God's love for us.
Fall is the brisk, smoky spiced air of late September afternoons. It is sipping cider around the burn barrel. Fall is the smell of the fallen leaves, decaying as their colorful corpses blanket the sidewalks.
"Bittersweet October. The mellow, messy, leaf-kicking, perfect pause between the opposing miseries of summer and winter." Carol Bishop Hipps
Those are my favorite seasons too, but here they seem to almost be skipped. One day it will be summer, the next winter and fall will make an appearance somewhere, but it never lasts very long.
ReplyDeleteOH the pictures you put on here were breathtaking-I think they say it all. Who doesn't love the beauty of fall-I love the changing colors and I find myself just staring out the window looking at all the colors-so wonderful
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