It’s beginning. Signs that it is my favorite season of the year began showing up everywhere just a few weeks ago, as the leaves in the valley melded into their autumnal brilliance – some even gently floating to the ground. The smells are filling the air – frost, crisp air, decomposing leaves, cider, wood burning fireplaces. I know it is my favorite time of the year by the sounds of dried leaves crunching beneath my feet, the scratchety-scratch of the windshield scraper removing the frost from my car windows and the wind whistling through my open window as I drive. The sights are also making their appearance – plants’ heads drooping sleepily, air conditioner covers being secured down, garden hoses rolled up and… Halloween decorations everywhere!
I feel really delighted when I start having all these sensory experiences I have mentioned. I feel myself nesting and bringing out the afghans and “woobies” to cuddle with. I feel young when fall arrives, like I am regressing through time and space back to the days of homemade chili, glazed donuts and apple cider for dinner.
It is a blessing to be witness to the changing seasons and to be fully experiencing it. I realize that much of my life, now, has become an exciting adventure around which I put my arms – and, then, I giggle. Rarely, these days, do I feel like I’m “stuck” in the mundane, which was how I used to feel all the time.
I am utterly surprised by the fact that, by being willing to be fully alive, I have shifted my life into one of aliveness. I have chosen to be. alive! And it is an incredible experience.
