A Is For: Autumnal Ruminations

Today at AlphabeThursday the letter is A. Here in beautiful Idaho, the seasons they are a changin'. It is officially the first day of AUTUMN. I love autumn. It is likely my favorite season. I am a bit sad though to say goodbye to summer. Those lazy, hazy crazy days of summer. Sunshine, fresh fruits and veggies, picnics, parks, playing in the water, breezy skirts and flip flops. (I love my flip flops.) I go into the garden and pick fresh raspberries for breakfast. I lie on my back in the grass and stare up into that endless blue sky. I read in the shade of the patio while the kids run through the sprinkler and dash across the lawn headed for that iconic summer contraption, the "slip'n'slide" wishing that the season would last forever. (And secretly wishing that they would stay my little ones forever as well.) Yet as the kids finish their fourth week of school, and I see the leaves beginning to turn and the temperatures fall, I know that another summer has come and gone. Did I appreciate it while it was here? I sure tried to, yet it seems gone too soon still. I feel that way too as I watch my four kids grow up right before my eyes. Do I appreciate each stage for its own wonder and excitement? I am trying to, yet the years too, seem gone all to soon still.

Before I fall off my chair and roll up into a soggy mom-ball of tears, I had better move on to autumn. I do love autumn. The air smells crispy. It is clear and cool. Just as the summer flowers lose their color, the trees begin to change and a whole new pallette is arranged. I just love the way it feels, and the sunsets are spectacular! It is time to don cardigans, scarves and cute hats to crunch the leaves on the sidewalk during my afternoon walks. I relinquish the barbecue for the big soup pot. Fall is the time to enjoy a giant batch of chili with a big, crusty loaf of sourdough...Yummm! The pumpkins in the garden are getting plump and I know that trick-or-treating is just around the corner. (I DO love to dress up.) I used to rush the passing of the seasons and celebrate each milestone in the kids' lives with a mad desire to see how it was all going to play out in the end. Now, though I just wish it would all slow down. I don't want it to stop, of course. I love seeing my kids grow and learn and develop into their own little people. They really are cool. I don't really want summer to last forever, nor fall either. It just goes so dang fast! So, I say, let's slow down.

The changing of the seasons really gives us the opportunity to reconnect with the earth and with nature. Go to the farmers market and see what is fresh this week. Taste the difference in food that is really ripe. Take a drive, or even a walk, and see all of the changes in the trees and flowers. Smell the air. Take advantage of all of it. Perhaps in your area Autumn lasts a while longer, but I know that here, winter is just around the corner. I will relish that when it comes too (only through March though), but for now I am love love lovin' Autumn! Although, I'm not putting a way those flip flops just yet...

Quote of the Day: "Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns."

~George Eliot author