The magic of the Fall

As I look outside my window, I see the Monarch butterflies frolicking amidst the Milkweed, the birds feast with the new seed I just provided--as they prepare to migrate south-- and the bells of my chimes play a soft melody as they are caressed by the wind. The sun has changed its aim, and its rays penetrate our home from a different direction. The grass, freshly cut, is turning from bright emerald green to a lighter hue. Nature readies itself to slumber for the winter. The house is filled with the colors of the season. There are apples, gourds, seeds of all kinds and a rainbow of dried berries. The aroma of freshly baked apple pie fills the air. Fall has arrived!

Ever since I moved to the United States almost 20 years ago, I have loved the autumn season. My first days in New England were full of new awe-inspiring experiences and discoveries: from the fall colors that graced the trees, the sweet smell of the orchards, and the cooler air that touched my skin.

My mother, who grew up in the country side, had always related to us her children, wonderful and almost magical stories of how things would change in the farm and how the animals would respond to the changes of the seasons. Unfortunately, that is something that many of us who have grown up in the city have never experienced. My mother and her siblings were so entuned to nature and their environment that they could tell with almost precise certainty the time of the day by their shadows, whether it would rain, an earth tremor was imminent, or if the fruit trees and sugar cane they cultivated would produce a good crop. That is a gift I wish I had inherited.

To the ancients, this was a special time: the approximation of Samhain--the start of the Celtic year. In nature, everything is withdrawing into itself. It is time to let go. It is time to incubate our hopes for the time when the light returns. As the days grow darker and the time of light shortens, I am reviewing what I have accomplished this year and I anticipate, with great joy, the endless possibilities to come.

Fall is the harvest. It is a celebration of life, especially in honor of those who produced the sweetest fruit: a life well lived. May your harvest be plentiful, full of joy and blessings. May you remember those who came before us and have now departed. It is in their honor and to honor Mother Nature that we must go on enduring... and planting...and havesting...and living, for this is the best way to celebrate life itself. Rest assured.