Autumn Changes

I think Fall is my favorite season, though I love each one that rolls by. I enjoy the cool, foggy mornings that turn into crisp, clear, blue-skied days. I love watching the trees turn their faded green into bright oranges and yellows, with some maples looking as though they’re a burning torch.

I also feel a twinge of sadness. The casual, warm summer days and evenings filled with light are over. No longer can I explore my yard for new flowers blooming, my raised vegetable garden for new zucchini or a red tomato.

Summer’s end has positive aspects to it. No more setting out slug bait (I use beer in a can—they love it), battling aphids and other bugs, watering pots of thirsty plants, dead-heading old blossoms. All chores and pleasures of being a homeowner.

Yet I can’t shake off the sadness I feel. Why is that? I think there are various reasons. I don’t have children to get ready for school—shopping for new clothes, buying new school supplies. My grandchildren are growing rapidly—some in their own homes now, several in college. I have two younger ones, but they live 2,000 miles away and I only see them once a year. How does life pass by so quickly?

I think that’s why autumn has beauty, yet sadness. Autumn causes us to be aware of the shortness of time. Even though I feel the same inside I’ve felt all my life, the mirror tells me I’m not that young chick anymore. No, I’m a woman in her fourth quarter.

What do we do about this sad malaise? I think we go on.

We enjoy the pleasure of the young.