In Celebration of Autumn


Most years I find myself dreading the transition from summer into autumn. I suppose it seems more like a precursor to the bitter winter than a season unto its own. Here in the Northwest, October through March are marked by rain, rain, and more rain. Oh, and clouds. Gray, dreary, light-inhibiting clouds. Being a person who loves the sunshine and feels cold at anything less than 78 degrees, it's not hard to understand why I do not enjoy the departing of summer.

But this year is different. This year I am actually appreciating the coming of autumn. Perhaps that's because it has been a hard summer, preceded by an equally hard spring, winter, and autumn. Perhaps I am just ready in every way to move forward, to start again, to begin a new chapter in this crazy journey called life. Perhaps I am finally coming to understand that just as autumn is a precursor to winter, so winter is a precursor to spring. Without the death of winter, there can be no rebirth in spring. And oh the glorious picture of hope spring provides! I find that I am no longer willing to forfeit the wonder of new life for the sake of bypassing the hardness of winter.

So this year as I watch the leaves fall and the clouds roll in, I am celebrating. The earth is both preparing for winter and waiting for spring. I, too, am preparing for winter and waiting for spring. But in the meantime, I am celebrating autumn. Will you join me?

Here are some of the many reasons I am excited about this new season:

*Sweaters—cozy and comforting.

*Tea, tea, and more tea—yes, I drink tea all year around, but I think it tastes just a little bit richer and sweeter when I drink it for warmth as well as flavor.

*Crispness in the air.

*Brilliant colors as the leaves change—I love color, I love creation, I love watching God as the artist.

*No guilt for staying indoors, curled up with a good book (or a blog!) and a cup of tea.

*Soup in the crockpot!

*Not having to water all my outdoor plants by hand. Seriously, it's such a big job and not very fun. I'm thankful God takes care of it for most of the year.

*Simplification of beverage choices at the weekly Starbucks visits. In the summer, you can get a cold drink or a hot one and you can sit inside or outside depending on your mood, the temperature, and whether or not you brought a sweater to combat the indoor air conditioning. In non-summer months, you only get hot drinks, you only sit inside, and you always bring a sweater and possibly a blanket just in case. Some might see this as choice restricting, but most of the time I prefer less options, not more. I'm just a little strange like that.

*Pumpkins!!! And by that I mean pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, Pumpkin Spice Crème from Starbucks, Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin lotion from Bath and Body Works, any number of pumpkin scents from Yankee Candle, and well, you get the point.

*Beginning of the Christmas preparations—okay, sometimes this can be very stressful, but I really do love the holiday season. The lights, the music, the scents, the anticipation, the baking (and the eating!), the movies, the trees, the window shopping, the candlelight, the Christmas story. As I begin the gift-making process in autumn, I start getting excited about everything that is just around the corner. Hooray for Christmas!

*Return to routine—this is a perfect season for getting back into good routines with sleeping, eating, fellowshipping, Bible studying, etc. I am absolutely loving my new routine. It has done wonders for me and I even have time for reading books. Yes, I know. It's shocking to me, too. But it's wonderful.

So tell me, Friends, why do you love autumn?

Comments

  1. today I am enjoying watching a steller jay peck at my dying sunflowers. I love the fall because it brings people together..its too cold to run around outside but warm in by the fire.

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  2. Someone said that Autumn is a picture of Christ's death. The leaves on the trees are dying, but the tree is still alive (Jesus' body died, but He was still alive)And it could also picture our death to self, and life in Christ.
    Nellie

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