The cool temperatures come again as the sun passes below the horizon. I can see my breath in the twilight. My nose tingles with the crisp air and I pull my hands into the sleeves of my sweater to keep them warm.
The Circle Completes - Fall
I pull on my jacket and step outside. It is brisk out this morning and the sun has not fully risen over the cool horizon. The smell of spice and pungency penetrate my nose and I think about the last days of summer and nature drawing her curtain on that production. Leaves fall at my feet and I watch them scuttle to the fence bottoms when the wind comes to play.
The days start so much cooler now with a crispness that reminds me winter is on the way. I need my jacket until afternoon comes but then summer returns for a few short hours and I bask in her glow and reminisce with her.
Fall and spring are the bridges between such stark contrasts: the desolation and pause of winter, and the vibrancy and productivity of summer. Spring is the reminder of nature’s resilience and fall is the reminder of the necessity of death. The circle completes again and again and I am witness to it.
The birds are travelling in numbers again. This year’s offspring join in the throngs and they prepare to make the journey to somewhere else. The flowers in my garden bow their heads and drop their raised branches. They too are looking for a rest in the garden bed.
Fall is my reminder to let the seasons of my life happen as gracefully. A windy storm may blow through and threaten to uproot me but I can also release my grip on trying to control the ebbs and flows, the comings and the goings, and the abundant times and the lean times. There can be ease to this progression if I simply let it happen.
The Brazen Flush of a May Morning
Docks - Standing on the Edge of Nature
So what was the draw of standing on the end of a dock? We were thrusting ourselves out away from the shore. We were extending ourselves out onto the water as far as possible to meet the edge of nature and surround ourselves in its beauty. Our feet were on a solid man-made foundation but our bodies were exposed and immersed in nature’s expanse.
A Forest’s Secret
I have moved to the hustle and bustle of the city. Within the city limits there are plenty of parks but nothing I would call a forest. There is little space to completely immerse yourself in nature like the kind I grew up with. But I have cravings for it as if it were a nutrient deficiency. Time in the forest feeds me.