The Pensive Season
Summer is the bright season, full of fun, heat, exciting water sports, outdoor concerts, and barbecues. You get to wear flip flips all the time, even when you are not on a beach vacation. And then, with the last slam of the screen door, Autumn wakes us up one morning to chilly temperatures, falling leaves, and the regular calendar of meetings and schedules. We played outside all summer, even after the street lights clicked on.
Tweet ThisI asked my Golden Ager friends what they do to enjoy Autumn and push back on the encroaching night.
They all extolled the simple pleasures:
Enjoy the cooler weather
Cooler weather means sweaters, and easier runs
and comfortable nights for sleeping.
Savor the pumpkin spice
Carve pumpkins
Have fun at a county fair, or hayride.
Walk in the woods
Decorate for Thanksgiving
Cheer on the football team and the marching band
Here’s what I would add to the list.
A Fall Foliage cruise would be a pleasure. Cruisers can see the leaves in New England, Canada, and from the Hudson River, or the Mississippi River. There are even train tours for viewing the autumn parade of colors. Or how about Oktoberfest? There are plenty of ways to travel and secure you seat in the beer tent. All that may be fun, but here’s what I am going to do this fall.
What a miracle- you put a bulb in the cold ground. North winds, ice and snow prevail for a while, and then in the spring beauty and looks pep out to give us the first joy after winter. Spring flowering bulbs are some of the most rewarding plants you can grow.
Do you know this hymn by Natalie Sleeth from The United Methodist Hymnal, No. 707?
In the bulb there is a flower;
in the seed, an apple tree;
in cocoons, a hidden promise:
butterflies will soon be free!
In the cold and snow of winter
there’s a spring that waits to be,
unrevealed until its season,
something God alone can see.
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