A most beautiful season is nearly upon us. Cool nights and autumnal colors will be here soon. Mums and rustic wreaths will decorate porches. Hay rides will carry children off to pumpkin patches. Fireplaces will be lit and cozy again.
September has a hard time deciding what it wants to be–a remnant of summer or harbinger of Fall? But October knows who it is: Fall in all its glory! October is my favorite month of the year–and not just because I’m a Libra! Nor because it was the month Bill and I married. Nor because my first-born child was born in October (his wife, too). No. It is my favorite because of nature’s striking presence in orange, yellow, rust, and red leaves swirling in a blustery wind against blue-gray skies. It is my favorite because with a mug of tea and a good book in hand, we find quieter days ahead. October invites our lives to slow down and appreciate her.
Walks are pleasant and frequent in October. The beach near us allows dogs again. I can wander and ponder. Sit and write. Think. And if it rains all the better, listening to sprinkling or torrent. I am grounded by the rain, the earth, the sky, the leaves, the storm and silence–the grace that is October.
And yes, today is only September. But I have September’s days to gloriously anticipate October.
Autumn Overflow, framed watercolor, 30″ x 22,” $875 by Gwendolyn Evans
Artwork: Autumn Overflow, framed watercolor, 30″ x 22,” $875. One Fall day I painted this where my husband and I used to hike frequently with our beloved dogs, Heidi (a Landseer Newfoundland) and Olaf ( a Bernese Mountain Dog). The pond there would sometimes overflow its edges and run across the unused old trail road, adding aesthetic interest for an artist’s eye.