October 13 2015

October 13 2015 Greetings My Friend If you would have asked me how much I like fall a few years ago I would not have said I enjoy it. Recently I heard that fall and spring were someone’s favorite times of the year and I am starting to enjoy fall in a new way. For many years fall just reminded me of winter and winter meant cold harshness in my thinking. Living in Virginia is slowly changing my attitude about winter. We still get some heavy snow and deep cold but it is different down here. Most snows melt before the next snow fall and for the most part the extreme cold is at night. With the snow melting quickly I find the days of being house bound or driving in the snow to be tolerable. Being retired means I can choose to go out or not when the weather is distasteful and slowly I find myself enjoying fall as much as I do spring and summer. Even the heat of summer wears on me anymore although when it is too hot or humid I can sit indoors with the air conditioning like I do in winter’s bitterness with heat. Summer is green in our neck of the woods and I love the pretty flowers, birds and butterflies. That makes staying inside okay. For a while now I have felt that the rhythm of the seasons parallel life in general. I usually see new life each spring like I see a newborn. Everything is fresh and new and exciting, changing often with new things to do and explore. Summer is a fullness to life. I love the carefree days of summer. Summer is also a time to let go of restraints. I love picking up and going someplace or doing something with very little thought process to it. Summer eating of all of nature’s harvest is an unending delight to me. I also like wearing flip flops and no coats. It is like casting off the baggage of winter in my mind. My thoughts about fall have been a time to turn inside and begin a nesting of our home and of my life. As I think on this I believe I have had warm feelings about fall all along only I pushed forward to winter’s bleakness too quickly. Fall in my mind means the smells of home, soup cooking, cookies being baked and settling down and connecting with myself, with my family and others. As I ponder again I realize that fall has had many warm memories in my thoughts. Soon it will be Thanksgiving and sharing time with family or friends and this is always a pleasant thought to me. The leaves change and a beautiful array of color seems to unfold. Fall and winter of life reminds me that life is short. With the leaves falling I take stock of my life and the loss’ I have. I am older and both my parents are gone. I have lost a brother and even my Grandmother is gone. It seems to me I begin to learn to live life in a new way. Lately the lesson for me is to learn to get around in new ways. Some of the lessons take time to process and there is often sadness for the loss’ of life. In another way fall is quiet and allows me to readjust my thinking which opens the door to new ways, new friends. The reflection of fall is also good and pleasant. Winter takes me deeper into the reflective process. The white snow covered scenes bury the past things of life. The snow mulches the soil in preparation for spring’s new beauty. When spring arrives I have worked through winter’s long harsh cold and I once more enter back into life again. Each season seems to have its own job and if each season comes I can grow. God becomes more focal in my life and I am thankful for the process of the seasons. May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Jane