The Truth in Autumn

The Truth in Autumn by Cynthia M. Brown

I love all the seasons of the year. There is something special about them all: The crystalline beauty and magic of winter, dazzling white snow and crystal blue skies; the delight in Spring with the return of green and the splashes of pastels in the garden, the bird song and the warm kisses of the sun; the blazing glory of primary colors in summer and the heat of the intense long shining sun; and the pungent smell of leaves on the breeze and the fiery blaze of the forests of fall.

While they are all special, there is something profoundly beautiful in the fall. Like its equinox cousin spring, this is a season where people actually travel to view the color. In spring it is the forest and prairie wildflower walks. In Autumn, it is the color of the forest itself. The profound thing for me is that this is the time of year when the earth’s sentries, her trees, show their true color. All summer, they mask their nature beneath the work of making food. When that work is done, they relax and sigh in the ecstasy of their natural colors, their beauty roaring to the tips of their leaves and filling the countryside with a riot of blazing color. Then, slowly, as the breezes grow stronger with the turning of the north winds, their beauty slips from the fingers of their branches, wafts to the earth to nurture the ground that will help feed them as they sleep and the cycle will begin again.

The thing is, we, humans, hunger for their beauty. We drive to the heart of deciduous tree country just to be able to walk among these glorious living things as they share their true nature with us and the world each year. We ravenously fill the parks and nature preserves and forest trails to smell the earth change from a time of explosive business and production to one of rest and slumber. We glory in the north wind as it turns toward us, bringing cooler days and crisp nightfalls. We luxuriate in the lengthening shadows as the sun slips its summer yoke and slides into darkness more quickly, signalling the earth and all its inhabitants to rest.

I wonder if we understand why this is. I wonder if, in the midst of changing time to fit our busyness, in the glare of all our lights that fend off the slumber of nature, in the clamorous drive to go see nature “out there in the woods”, if we really understand what the earth is telling us. I believe, as is often quoted from the Bible and the song, there is a time for everything. I believe we crave this space in nature because we crave a safe space in which to be our authentic selves. We are hungry to cast off the drive to produce and to just be, to shine in our natural beauty and brilliance. Autumn gives us a moment of rare beauty and a glimmer of hope that there can be a time and a place for us to just be, to sigh, breathe deeply, shine brightly and fully and to rest. We call our advancing years the autumn of our lives. It is a time when the work of child rearing and preparing for retirement and old age is complete.

I am close to sixty; dangerously close. What if I want my autumn now? What if I want and need that hope of rest and being fully myself now? What if I have needed it all my adult life and have simply bought into the lie that I had to wait until it was time? What if I decided to believe it is time now? What if I lived my life as if yesterday was a memory and immutable in time and tomorrow was a dream not promised? What if I lived in my own authenticity now? What if the truth in autumn is really that, beneath what appears, the authentic nature is still here? What if, all we have to do is make time for it to show itself? What kind of colorful, amazing, gloriously beautiful world of people we would live in? The truth is we already do live in it. We just have to slow down enough to breathe in and exhale into it.

Human Horse Connection

Melanie Wiechel

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https://humanhorseconnection.wordpress.com

A multi-faceted and holistic program with a focus on healing the mental, physical and emotional bodies • Life Coaching • Home and Land Blessings • Animal Communication • Spiritual and Medical Intuitive Readings • Online Spiritual Development Classes Available Now

aimed to keep the spirit of Halloween alive without the =risk of COVID-19. The Teal Pumpkin Pledge is a new offering from FARE and the Teal Pumpkin Project that helps those wishing to participate in Halloween celebrations stay safe. By taking the Teal Pumpkin Pledge, participants receive a “Teal Pumpkin Pledge Certificate” they can display on their windows or doors to show their neighbors and friends that they are committed to a safe Halloween.

“We encourage families all over the country to embrace the Teal Pumpkin in their Halloween festivities this year and every year,” added Gable. “Whether you trick or treat, party with your pod or celebrate in another creative but safe and socially-distanced way, adding the Teal Pumpkin to your celebration goes an awfully long way to supporting the 5.6 million American children living with food allergies, showing that you have non-food treats available and that they can feel safe celebrating this fun holiday with you. ”Among the many resources that FARE shares on its website is an

interactive map to help families determine the relative risk of participating in Halloween activities in counties across the country.

To learn more about the Teal Pumpkin Project, visit www.tealpumpkinproject.org.

About FARE: FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education) is the world’s leading non-governmental organization engaged in food allergy advocacy and the largest private funder of food allergy research. Our mission is to improve the quality of life and the health of individuals with food allergies, and to provide them hope through the promise of new treatments. FARE is transforming the future of food allergy through innovative initiatives that will lead to increased awareness, new and improved treatments and prevention strategies, effective policies and legislation and novel approaches to managing the disease. To learn more about FARE, visit our Living Teal™ YouTube channel, or www.foodallergy.org.