As a photographer, I’ve come to love the summer a lot because of the color and light I can capture. But in another sense, Autumn has always been my favorite season. I love the cooler, crisper weather, especially this year; the foliage up here is usually gorgeous, and perhaps I can capture that with my camera.
I love when the wood is in the shed, the hay is in the barn, the bugs and mosquitoes recede, and I need sweaters and jackets. I will do more walking, which I miss (too hot this summer much of the time), and we will have wood stove fires in the evening.
Fall can be beautiful and uplifting; it’s the most contemplative season for me; I do my best meditating, although I’m not sure why. The leaves here are just beginning to turn, in October, the roads will be clocked with “peepers” who drive long distances to see our leaves change color.
Fall is also a season of change and opportunity; it inspires me to look ahead and see what I need to do to change.
The animals are more relaxed already, and the donkey and sheep love the apples falling on them from above.
Depending on the weather, I expect the animals will be grazing into late October or early November. Climate change has altered life here, as in everywhere else, but I am grateful for the changing seasons. Winter is a creative challenge for me; I have ideas about taking some new and different photos in the winter pasture, as I call it.
I could never live in a place where the seasons never change; it would be too bland and boring for me. Even the sometimes harsh winters don’t make me want to head South.
But fall is in the air. Many of my garden’s flowers have already checked out; I’m good for about one more month. I’ll keep the pictures coming until the last flower goes.
I love Fall. Colors and crisp air, yes!
In Chinese Medicine, it is the season symbolized by the Metal “element,” and is associated with the acupuncture meridians for Lung and Large Intestine.
One can be skeptical of acupuncture as a treatment mode, even though it does seems to be helpful in some cases, and still appreciate the metaphors around the seasons.
So, Lung: Fall is the time for purifying air. (And, for example, recovering from cough and congestion!)
Large Intestine: getting rid of what is no longer needed. (Not being disturbed by nay-sayers, perhaps. Or clearing out the remains of the virus.)
Metal: the keen “blade” that one can use to separate from difficulties. The discernment that comes from considering the arc of the past year, and choosing what to carry forward.
Of course, these can apply at any time, but they seem particularly appropriate in the autumn.
At the moment we are in the time of Late Summer (harvest & nourishment metaphors; and neediness, as in the case of illness). But, as you pointed out, it’s also the time when one may start to notice the signs of coming Fall, and to yearn for it.
Thanks for your blog, Jon. I often find gems there. This is one.