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Posts from the ‘Autumn’ Category

Oct 28

Autumn Waving

“October, crisp, misty, golden October, when the light is sweet and heavy.”― Angela Carter, The Magic Toyshop

Grace by Wendell Berry

“The woods is shining this morning.
Red, gold and green, the leaves
lie on the ground, or fall,
or hang full of light in the air still.
Perfect in its rise and in its fall, it takes
the place it has been coming to forever.
It has not hastened here, or lagged.
See how surely it has sought itself,
its roots passing lordly through the earth.
See how without confusion it is
all that it is, and how flawless
its grace is. Running or walking, the way
is the same. Be still. Be still.
“He moves your bones, and the way is clear.”

Waves of fall colors linger
Holding out
A spell longer
Time and timing
Thresholds
A foot on each side
Lingering, abiding, tending
The work of this day, each day
Grace and gratitude
Harvesting presence.

“And autumn ain’t so shabby for wow, either. The colors are broccoli and flame and fox fur.” – Anne Lamott

 

Oct 19

October Grace

“October, baptize me with leaves! Swaddle me in corduroy and nurse me with split pea soup. October, tuck tiny candy bars in my pockets and carve my smile into a thousand pumpkins. O autumn! O teakettle! O grace!”
― Rainbow Rowell , Attachments

“Let misty autumn be our part!
The twilight of the year is sweet:
Where shadow and the darkness meet
Our love, a twilight of the heart
Eludes a little time’s deceit.

Are we not better and at home
In dreamful Autumn, we who deem
No harvest joy is worth a dream?
A little while and night shall come,
A little while, then, let us dream.”
― Ernest Dowson, The Poems and Prose of Ernest Dowson

Harvest to be found in each season
Seeding and tending too
Invitation and attention
Abiding and presence
The path
Straight, winding, detours, delays
On ramps and rest stops
Slow and fast
Points of distance and reflection, where meaning is made
Grace for this day
May joy find you on today’s leg of the journey.

“For even the very wise cannot see all ends.”― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Oct 1

Ablaze in Song

“Light burdens, long borne, grow heavy.”― George Herbert

“Loving earth, more of love flows out of me,
for in the leaves is music, in the flowers, a poem,
In the trees is a story of centuries of storms,
endured and stayed as secrets of ages.”
― Jayita Bhattacharjee

Leaves ablaze in song
Celebration of work well-done
Beauty, hope, joy given
Transition to transformation
Soon to releasing, letting go, soft float to the earth
For rest to restoration
Making space for new growth
The gift of seasons.

“In every change, in every falling leaf there is some pain, some beauty. And that’s the way new leaves grow.”― Amit Ray

Sep 28

Autumn Composition

“Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;
Lengthen night and shorten day;
Every leaf speaks bliss to me
Fluttering from the autumn tree.
I shall smile when wreaths of snow
Blossom where the rose should grow” – Emily Bronte

Song for Autumn
by Mary Oliver

“In the deep fall
don’t you imagine the leaves think how
comfortable it will be to touch
the earth instead of the
nothingness of air and the endless
freshets of wind? And don’t you think
the trees themselves, especially those with mossy,
warm caves, begin to think
of the birds that will come – six, a dozen – to sleep
inside their bodies? And don’t you hear
the goldenrod whispering goodbye,
the everlasting being crowned with the first
tuffets of snow? The pond
vanishes, and the white field over which
the fox runs so quickly brings out
its blue shadows. And the wind pumps its
bellows. And at evening especially,
the piled firewood shifts a little,
longing to be on its way.”

What will you bring to this day, this season?
Will you slow, pause, praise?
Or pass by hurriedly in a haze?
Pull over, gaze, graze?
May presence, attention, awe be my first response.
Dancing with wonder too.

“I trust in nature for the stable laws of beauty and utility. Spring shall plant and autumn garner to the end of time.”
Robert Browning

Sep 27

Harvest Hues

“As long as autumn lasts, I shall not have hands, canvas and colours enough to paint the beautiful things I see.” – Vincent Van Gogh

“He who postpones the hour of living is like the rustic who waits for the river to run out before he crosses.” – Horace

Colors shifting, softening, glowing
Jewel tones
Depth, hues, nuance
Harvest time
Partake in the feast
Slow pace
Easy cadence
Light step
Beauty woven in each day, season
Hour of living, today.
Discover the gold in your pocket.

“Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons.” – Jim Bishop

 

Sep 1

September Sun

“September days have the warmth of summer in their briefer hours, but in their lengthening evenings a prophetic breath of autumn.”― Rowland E. Robinson

“September reminds us to lean into change, to trust the process, and to welcome the opportunities that come with every new chapter. As the air shifts, we are reminded that every ending carries the seed of a new beginning. Life whispers that change is not to be feared, but embraced… a gentle reminder that letting go is a part of growth and that beauty is found not only in what blooms, but also in what transforms.”― Steve Maraboli

Season shifts.
Out and in.
Thresholds, bridges, crossings.
To remain open, curious, welcoming.
Beginnings and endings woven with seeds and fruit,
Harvest well.
Fruit of transformation.

“[T]hat old September feeling, left over from school days, of summer passing, vacation nearly done, obligations gathering, books and football in the air … Another fall, another turned page: there was something of jubilee in that annual autumnal beginning, as if last year’s mistakes had been wiped clean by summer.”― Wallace Stegner, Angle of Repose

Aug 24

Slow, Gentle Rhythms

“August is the slow, gentle month that stretches out the longest across the span of a year. It yawns and lingers on with the light in its palms.” — Victoria Erickson

“We must be willing to get rid of
the life we’ve planned, so as to have
the life that is waiting for us.

The old skin has to be shed
before the new one can come.

If we fix on the old, we get stuck.
When we hang onto any form,
we are in danger of putrefaction.

Hell is life drying up.”
― Joseph Campbell, A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living

Seasons on the cusp of change.
Not there yet.
Still roads to be traveled, reveled.
No leaping ahead, nor falling behind.
Full presence, thresholding.
Summer still blooming and fertile.
Fall scattering strokes of crimson and gold as green yields.
Transitions, the first steps to transformation.

“August creates as she slumbers, replete and satisfied.” — Joseph Wood Krutch

Nov 8

Beauty Lingers, Awaiting Your Noticing

“one small thing
I’ve learned these years,
how to be alone,
and at the edge of aloneness
how to be found by the world.”
― David Whyte, River Flow

“Song for Autumn”

Don’t you imagine the leaves dream now
how comfortable it will be to touch
the earth instead of the
nothingness of the air and the endless
freshets of wind? And don’t you think
the trees, especially those with
mossy hollows, are beginning to look for

the birds that will come—six, a dozen—to sleep
inside their bodies? And don’t you hear
the goldenrod whispering goodbye,
the everlasting being crowned with the first
tuffets of snow? The pond
stiffens and the white field over which
the fox runs so quickly brings out
its long blue shadows. The wind wags
its many tails. And in the evening
the piled firewood shifts a little,
longing to be on its way.”― Mary Oliver

Autumn beauty lingering
Awaiting your noticing
Partaking
Praise
Presence
Finish opening the gifts of the season
Beauty within and out
In all seasons.

“When we devote some calm time to the heart and come off the treadmill of stress and distraction we can enter into the beauty within.  Each of us can prepare for that inner arrival: where ‘night holds sway’ and the inner forest becomes ‘free of strangers’.” – John O’Donohue

Nov 2

November Color, Light, Bloom

“Trees still grow after letting dead things go.”― Darnell Lamont Walker

“WELCOME NOVEMBER…

There is something about November that says ‘just keep going’.
We are not quite through the year yet the finish-line looms out of nowhere.
We are plunged into darkness by Mother Nature.
We are faced with the ‘season of joy’,
and yet many of us wonder where we will find it.

And I think November is a great time to take a little peek behind you,
and see just how much you’ve done.
To take stock of your achievements, your endurance,
your survival.
To rest, reinforce, before the festivities envelope us all.
Before beautiful new beginnings.

And most importantly, November is a time to seek out light.
As the natural order darkens, we must find it ourselves.
We must do whatever we can to brighten our day,
our home, the world.

Seek out light wherever you can my friends,
and pay no heed to those who condemn your sparkle.

You are much-needed.

Keep showing up, in that special way only you can do.
And show up for yourself too
(which can sometimes mean not showing up somewhere else).

This year has been hard.

Again.

But beautiful.

Again.

As is the way of life.

As is the way of life.” – Donna Ashworth

Music. Light. Dance. Color.
Partake, participate.
Keep showing up.
In all seasons.
Do not rank.
Do not discard.
Do not dismiss.
Be present, with vigor.
There is joy here.
To be found.
To be given.
To receive.
The way of life.
Well-lived, daily.
While in it.

“You are the music while the music lasts.”― T.S. Eliot

Oct 27

Mostly Live

“October, crisp, misty, golden October, when the light is sweet and heavy.”― Angela Carter, The Magic Toyshop

“Under the brush of the autumn wind, the leaves dance, painted in hues of orange and gold, a visual symphony that sings in every corner of the forest.”― David Passarelli, Mountain poems: Musings on stone, forest, and snow

Lingering summer
Late fall
Beauty of each season
Gravity of today
Weight of wonder
Pull of joy
Push of awe
Look around
On the ground of this day
A visual symphony
Mostly live

“There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called Yesterday and the other is called Tomorrow. Today is the right day to Love, Believe, Do and mostly Live.”― Dalai Lama XIV

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