The Beauty of Fall-
Fall in the Sierras is a glorious, colorful experience. The golds of the Aspens as they flutter in the breeze; the bright red of the firebushes as they shimmer in the sunlight. There is that melancholy feeling in the air – the ending of one season and the beginning of another. Fall vacations were always my favorite…for many years, Bill and I traveled to Durango Colorado to watch the leaves turn and drink apple cider beside a fireplace to warm our fingers and toes. In mountain locations, winter isn’t dreaded…after all it brings the promise of snow and skiing down the hill or across the valley.
We were married on this day, 22 years ago and although Bill is flying in another dimension, I also know he is here wishing me a Happy Anniversary – both of us feeling grateful for our Love and its expression. Fall is that wondrous reminder that things pass from our sight for a time, and then return bursting with new life in the Spring.
When I first moved to San Francisco from Michigan, I couldn’t tell what season it was. I remember shopping for a Christmas tree when it was 60 degrees in Half Moon Bay and wondering how I would ever get into the Christmas spirit in this mild climate. How would I know the magic of Christmas without that white stuff on the ground. The closer I looked – the more I could see the subtle changes in foliage – the softening of light from white to gold…the shorter days heralding the time to snuggle in, even if it was only raining.
When we pay attention, we see beauty everywhere -in the smallest thing and the most fleeting of moments. There is the magnificent glory of color which you can’t miss; and then there is the softest sign of fall…the sound of a crisp leaf as you take your walk. Fall invites me to breathe deeply and smell the pine in the fireplaces of my neighbors….it encourages me to know that as things appear to die (they really do NOT); they are just about the business of transformation-the knowing they will return in Spring in a new form.
I am holding to that awareness today and sending my love out to every living thing…to trees which I dearly love and to birds as they head for their winter residence…to my friends and to the strangers that will cross my path today, and always and forever- to the love of my life, my Bill. Please join me in noticing beauty everywhere and sending love to every living thing.
