Falling For It

While I know it is still summer, at least scientifically, fall has been hitting this gal hard, and in the best ways! There are orange pumpkins and swirling vines, corn stalks turning tan, and a black cat curled up near the wood stove. So far there have been apple cakes and apple oatmeal and apples just grabbed off the tree and eaten with gusto. I hope to make a grapevine wreathe with a baling twine pentacle of found objects on the farm for the front door. Nothing wrong with a symbol of protection on the threshold, right? Right.

Fall has always meant falconry to me. September 1 I was ready to go trapping and start working with a fresh bird! But this year I am taking my time to start that commitment, perhaps to get a last backpacking overnight in before a hawk is my everyday and every night for a bit!

I will always love this time of year above the rest. I was the kid that loved Back to School time because it always felt like a time of fresh starts, new shoes, friends and books. Now as an adult the realization that the harshness and darkness ahead is emotionally and phsycologically scary, lonely, and long. But to celebrate this last explosion of color and light that is early fall - savor it. Look up. Breathe deep.