Autumn is the most beautiful time of the year with its golden light, soft blue skies, whispering leaves, and quiet busy-ness of nature.
Crows are flying around squawking about the coming change in the weather. Squirrels chirp and chatter as they work to deposit acorns in many spots to come and hunt up again in winter.
The leaves float to the ground on a gentle Autumn breeze to sprinkle our lawns, just so. A beautiful smattering across a rich velvety, emerald green lawn.
Autumn is a last effort to please you mightily before you get your hands on the handle of a rake and perform the ritual of raking leaves--one that excites kids to jump into the pile to be buried multiple times before you can carry them away to burn them.
Autumn has a special scent, one that is like nothing else. It is exciting, and makes one want to scruff up those leaves again with your foot, just to sniff it in one more time...
I pay special attention to the smells of Autumn: one of rotting leaves and the rows of crops as they dry up in the fields, waiting for excited farmers to harvest.
Autumn's very own scent and it is one of richness, of the earth: one last memory of what was another beautiful season: summer. An end to the work of producing, and now moving on to the season of rest.
Autumn will leave us one day before we realize what happened, but suddenly we will miss her: because winter will have arrived, to lay a blanket over our world, and tell it, finally to have a nice snooze and rest to come alive in living color once again next spring.
All hail to the kale; it's not orange but it worked its way into this post anyhow!
:)
