Learning to Be in the Moment

There's a change in the view from the porch. The woods are full of color. From my perch in the loft, I look out at the treetops and they are thinning. There is much more sky peeking through the branches. The sourwoods' crimson has faded, the oaks are beginning their costume change from green to red or gold, and the Asian Pear (always the first to bloom and the last to shed its leaves) are still hanging on to their summer green.

Fall is probably my favorite time of year. This may come as a surprise to those of you who know my feelings about summer! I enjoy summer so much, that while everyone else is sweating through August and looking forward to September, I'm very careful not to think those thoughts. Summer will end, Fall will arrive, and then presto... it's winter...my not so favorite time of year.

Once fall arrives, however, I savor it. This fall has been wonderful. Summer gave up its grip, reluctantly, and we are still having warmer than normal weather. I am enjoying the best of both worlds; warm days, cool nights, and the mosquitoes have finally disappeared. This past summer was very hot and humid. For the first time in years, we never ate dinner on the porch. Between the heat and the mosquitoes, it just wasn't pleasant.

The leaf change is the part of the season that I savor the most. Even if the days were cold, they would still be pretty. Last fall was excessively wet, but the golds and the reds brightened up the gray days. There really is no way to do fall badly. We are in the midst of a severe drought this year, the opposite of last year. Everyone expected the colors to be dull, but against the cloudless blue sky nothing is dull.

Fall in Georgia is a season that lingers. Everyday, something has changed. One week it's the dogwoods, the next it's the sourwoods. As one group of trees lose their leaves, another group has begun the change from green to gold.

There is one downside to fall and I've had to learn how to deal with it. The more vibrant the colors, the clearer the unfortunate truth. What is most beautiful today will be gone next week.

Marigolds Present

Marigolds Past

There is a lot of talk these days about staying in the present. It is so easy for us to look ahead, or behind, either worrying about what is to come or thinking about what is past. Fall teaches me to just Be. I enjoy the cooler temperatures, the changes in color and the woods as it moves through this season in time. Good advice for every day. Now if I can only remember that lesson in Winter.