Monday, September 24, 2012

Fall is Time for ...

Fall is time for...Raking leaves, the crisp crackling and crunching underfoot, the brilliant gold and red hues that make you realize there isn't a single crayon in an entire mega box of Crayolas that can ever come close.


Fall is time for...snuggly cable knit sweaters, the Land's End catalog, LL Bean waiting for you in your mail box.


Fall is time for winterizing and mulching, putting final touches on summer projects left undone.  Vegetable gardens are harvested and turned over, perhaps covered in a blanket of straw, awaiting the hush that will fall over the land when the snow arrives.


Fall is time for large, bright orange pumpkins, scraggly scarecrows, and winding corn mazes.

















Fall is time for hot chocolate, first fires in wood burning stoves, and slowing down for time with friends.



Fall is time for gratitude, for reflection, for wonder and peace.


Gratitude for the cornucopia of blessings in our lives, gratitude for food on the table and a warm bed at night, gratitude for those who surround us with love, gratitude...surprisingly...for the things we have wished for that never materialized.

The first day of fall this year was spent on narrow mountain passes, catching eye popping views of marvelous Colorado fall colors.  The conversation was comforting, and the world could not have been a more beautiful place for just that few hours.  A short hike alongside a lazy creek, soon to be frozen silent as it sleeps for the winter.  A rickety foot bridge causing giggles from a couple of women who were feeling freed from care, if only for a brief afternoon respite.

Fall is time for love, for mellowing, and in today's world it is for preparing hearts for the terrible onslaught of commercialism that still catches us off guard every year with twinkling lights and promises of complete joy attained by receiving the "perfect" gift...and the guilt for never quite being able to meet that unexpressed expectation.

May this fall bring hearts that are warmed with all the things God intends to be "the good things" in life.

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