Autumn Reflections. . .

“No spring nor summer's beauty hath such grace
As I have seen in one Autumnal face....”
~John Donne, "Elegy IX: The Autumnal"

Fredrick Edwin Church--Autumn

As I left my driveway this morning, I couldn’t help noticing the poplar trees that line our driveway are nearly bare, their leaves scattered across the yard mixing with the vibrant hues of those from the big maple tree in the side yard.  It’s a lovely season full of harvest celebration and thanksgiving.  Autumn marks the end of summer with the last blushes of sunny warmth and the onset of crisp mornings. It is the last rites of Summer ushering in the sharp bite of Winter’s cold.

For me, autumn brings with it a certain melancholy.  It was in October, six years ago, that I said goodbye to my brother Don.  Since his death, each year, I face this transitional season with some trepidation; some renewal of painful recollection.  I am one of four siblings and we have always been four parts of a whole. Now, we are three.  I can’t begin to describe the hole his passing left in our lives.  Suffice it to say, that a part of myself was lost when we lost him.  He never had a chance to live his autumn years, but the years he lived, he lived well. He laughed, loved and lived without condition and was an inspiration to those he mentored and served.  He wasn’t perfect but he was good and he absolutely lived his convictions.

As I contemplate my own autumn, I wonder whether I am loving and living so well.  Am I consistently living my convictions?  I realize that, in the words of Joe L. Wheeler:

 “Time remorselessly rumbles down the corridors and streets of our lives. But it is not until autumn that most of us become aware that our tickets are stamped with a terminal destination... that whatever can be done with our thoughts, words, and actions must be done soon. As we hypnotically watch the steadily diminishing reserve of sand in Life's hourglass, the instincts of a miser surface. Life is now savored, sipped as with a fine nineteenth-century French wine.... It is during the autumn of our lives that this inner vintage begins to sculpt and paint the face as it seeps through the skin from within.” (Remote Controlled: How TV Affects You and Your Family)

Fall is a time to clean up gardens and flower beds.  It is time to plant bulbs and new perennials and to prune roses and trees.  I have realized that my autumn season can be a productive, beautiful season.  Though the flowers of summer are spent, the fruit of autumn is most excellent!  Autumn is the perfect time to take account of what we've done, what we didn't do, and what we'd like to do next year.  Autumn is a mellow season that calls to mind warm socks and sweaters, homemade soup and apple cider.  It’s a time to gather with our families for celebration and a time to be thankful for our own seasons.

Time marches on and each of us have a limited amount.  I plan to spend mine wisely in this season, my autumn. . .

“There is a harmony
In autumn, and a luster in its sky...”
~Percy Bysshe Shelley