Fall is Coming

In the spring, I am eagerly looking for each new sign that spring is approaching.  I love watching the forest floor start to get green, and then the low bushes begin to sprout leaves, before long the forest trees leaf out and things begin to bloom and all is bright and new.

When fall comes I also notice the little changes, with much less eagerness.  I try not to notice the cooler nights and the poison ivy that is climbing the trees has turned scarlet red.  The sugar maples are turning yellow and orange, flowers are getting leggy and my horses are growing winter coats.  I'm not ready for summer to end, I long for more time to sit on the studio porch playing my flutes.  I love an afternoon nap in the hammock and the songs of the birds that live near our house. 

I've noticed the geese are strengthening their wings for a flight south, blackbirds gathering in small flocks now, later they will be giant migrating flocks.  I've seen woolly worms crossing the road, I try to remember what their color markings are suppose to tell us about the coming winter.  The milkweed and Queen Anne's lace is pretty much finished for the season.  Acorns are falling from my beautiful old oak tree and the bittersweet is beginning to berry.  These are just a few little signs....... they will become more dramatic as we move into October.  The trees will look like patchwork quilts and days are delightfully warm and the nights cool.  Air conditioning is turned off and windows opened.  We'll again be able to hear the owls hooting and coyotes howling, the crickets will sing us to sleep. 

All too soon I will be seeing the small signs that winter is coming.  Each season is necessary, needed and even wanted.   I am reminded to live each moment with joyfulness and gratitude.  Every season is a Blessing.