For many of us, winter is blooming into
spring, or fall hardening into winter. Which season do you most look forward
to?
My favorite
season is definitely summer fading into fall.
That’s the season I missed the most while living on an island with only
rainy and windy seasons and the exact same temperature year round. There’s no
leaves changing colors, no cool, crisp breezes, only heat, humidity, blazing
sun, and trade winds that will tangle your hair and turn your umbrellas inside
out or make you have to get off your bike to push against them. Of course, there are many days I was so
thankful to wake up to another day full of the hot sun on my back and a warm
breeze pushing the beach sand across my toes, but I still missed autumn.
I really
missed it starting in October when pumpkins arrived at the local grocery store,
Surfway, and even more when playing football or taking a walk with friends and
the kids outside after Thanksgiving dinner.
It just didn’t seem right to have our Jack-O-Lanterns grow thick, green
fur within a day of being outside on our porch in anticipation of
Halloween.
Even here in
WA where fall means the length of days will be getting shorter and shorter, I
still love this season the best. Before moving here, I had mostly visited the
NW in the summer and knew how gorgeous and beloved to tourists and locals alike
it is during that time of year. BUT, I had also been forewarned that the reason
it is so magnificent in summer is because of all the rain and clouds throughout
the rest of the year, so I did not expect to find it just as attractive to me
in autumn.
Having
survived over a year now in the Evergreen State, I can safely say that the
months of August through October are my favs.
(Though I do have to admit that I also enjoy late March through May when
all the flowers and trees that are not evergreens return to life and the days
grow longer again.) But fall, oh autumn…this season means sweatshirts, jeans,
jackets, and scarf weather, campfires, cookouts, perfect weather (not too hot
or too cold yet), football, family time, pumpkin patches and corn mazes, a new
beginning with the school year, brilliant orange, yellow, and red leaves on the
trees, pumpkin pie and roasted pumpkin seeds, and the spirit of the upcoming
holidays. I LOVE FALL!!
There is a
season for everyone and everything, but for me, autumn is a symbol of another
year drawing to a close and a chance to celebrate that year with all its
struggles and successes and then to move forward into the New Year with a
joyful and thankful spirit.
And in keeping with #96 from a couple of
days ago…the title of this post reminds me of both the Bible verse and the song
based on it, which I will share with you below:
There is an appointed time for
everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—
A time to give birth and a
time to die;
A time to plant and a time to
uproot what is planted.
A time to kill and a time to
heal;
A time to tear down and a time
to build up.
A time to weep and a time to
laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to
dance.
A time to throw stones and a
time to gather stones;
A time to embrace and a time
to shun embracing.
A time to search and a time to
give up as lost;
A time to keep and a time to
throw away.
A time to tear apart and a
time to sew together;
A time to be silent and a time
to speak.
A time to love and a time to
hate;
A
time for war and a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes
3:1-8
"Turn! Turn! Turn!" by The Byrds
To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven
A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep
To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven
A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones
A time to gather stones together
To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven
A time of love, a time of hate
A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace
A time to refrain from embracing
To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven
A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time for love, a time for hate
A time for peace, I swear it's not too late!
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