The cool air meets you as you step outside.
A freshness that makes you stop and take another breath on purpose. The sun is barely up over the mountains, but you can already see the glowing symphony coming to life before your dazzled eyes.
Red, yellow, orange, and flecks of evergreen work together. They each have a glorious shade that is all their own, and, still, they create a masterpiece when swept together like notes from a grand composer’s sheet music. Each color is a note. Each tree is filled with breezy songs that are whispered to you as you stand on the porch arrested in the wonder.
The sun almost twinkles like a star as it makes its way up to look over all this beauty beneath it. The squirrels rustle through the newly fallen leaves and run frantically to hide their treasures. The world around you is giving itself over to something greater, slowly but surely.
It instantly brings to mind how I felt as a young girl.
I remember getting up early on Saturday mornings to help my Daddy work on the farm. We would climb in his big truck, my brother and me. I would have my jacket on with my favorite worn jeans and cowboy boots. I would wait for him to crank the loud diesel engine, huddled beside my brother. We would notice that we could see our breath, and it always made us laugh.
Daddy would say, “Hey Ashley, you know what?” in his mischievous voice he would use for story telling or big news. I would grin at him because I knew what was coming next.
“It’s our kind of weather!” we would say in unison.
You see, Daddy and I both love the fall. Ever since I was big enough to talk we would wait for the first cool snap and stand outside together staring wide-eyed at the world around us. It felt like the top of the world to me, from our home on top of a mountain in Shelby County. We would always say “It’s our kind of weather!”
35 years of life on this earth and I still have this tradition with my Daddy.
My phone rang the first October day we woke with 45 degree temps. This time of year still brings an excitement and peace to my soul that I can count on. What is it that makes the fall so remarkable? What makes us wait for it, and hope for it to show itself quicker?
Maybe it is the events that take over the morning news reel, the radio ads, and our social media pages. Pumpkin patches, festivals, park days, apple orchards, and more. We are poised and ready to enjoy all of the fun this time of year has to offer. We anticipate time out and about with friends, having photo ops of our kids in their fall outfits (if they comply), and the fact there is no sweat pouring off of you while you enjoy it all. . . depending on the day in Alabama, of course.
Here in Birmingham, we can find every kind of fall activity imaginable within a half hour drive. This great city, and surrounding areas, is a fall-lovers paradise. Whether you love to get out and hike in it or prefer to watch it through a window with a cup of coffee and pumpkin spice, there is something for everyone.
Maybe it could be the holidays we so enjoy together. Gatherings filled with warm hugs, steaming dishes of favorite secret family recipes, and remembering all the joyful memories of the past while making new ones. Snuggling the new babies and sitting with the elder members of our family hearing stories of “way back when.” Playing games, laughing, and washing all those mounds of dishes.
Perhaps, it’s the football games. Cheering on your team, tailgating, backyard football at halftime, and having plenty of comfort snacks to ease the pain if your team loses. (Heaven forbid!)
Could it be the early darkness? Many of you might argue that this is the part you don’t enjoy about this time of year. Lately, I’ve come to appreciate how it gets us indoors and focused on family time, with warm blankets and pj’s, and bedtime stories before 9 o’clock. I love that I find my own self ready for bed at a decent hour, too!
Maybe it’s the incredible weather. The mild days and crisp, cool nights. The sweater weather that brings a sense of coziness. The draw to build a campfire or wrap up in a blanket on the swing with your sweetheart. The kids jumping in crunchy piles of leaves instead of wanting to watch TV inside.
Maybe—I’m just going to say it again—it’s the FOOD! The pumpkin spice this, or caramel apple that. The warm gooey desserts, and buttery, cheesy casseroles that take you to Granny’s kitchen with one bite. The steaming hot beverages that run all the way to your toes. Truly, it’s one of the closest things to heaven on earth.
I think for most of us, it is a combination of all these things that make the fall so lovable. We yearn for refreshment deep in our souls.
Sure, we weather the brutal southern summer, and we long for the brisk, fresh air.
The colorful leaves, and the sweaters. But I think the part of this season that draws us in, is something deeper still. Through all the things we enjoy about the fall, we might miss the beautiful and organic lessons we can learn from it if we aren’t looking.
The fall teaches us that letting go of things and taking that needed rest is essential. Leaves fall so that new ones can take their places after a season. In fact, those leaves form a perfect covering that is absolutely necessary for the creatures beneath and the new growth to come. We also see that many animals hibernate so they can rest and stay warm together before food gathering begins, again.
Likewise, we were not created to live the high speed, fast paced lives that many of us try to keep. The fall naturally draws us in and causes us to pull close to others. We get to find respite in the warmth of home, family, and community. We can turn inward and focus on the core needs of those that we love most. It is a season of amber glow and seeking refuge. Is that not something we yearn for in our heart of hearts?
I also think that fall reminds us that “grounded” is a good place to be.
It is important to take stock of our lives, our feelings, our families, and who we are on a very personal level. The fall has a way of bringing us down to earth, just as the early sunsets bring the leaves to the soil covered floor. This is so that we can be still long enough to see all that really is around us. It helps us see the “forest for the trees,” so to speak.
Fall teaches us that there is a need for small spaces with beloved people, while there is also a need for wide open spaces with room to meander and explore. We have a desire to come in and warm our hearts, just as we have the desire to go out and let ourselves go. We store up treasures in the form of laughs around a wooden kitchen table, and memories made by a fireplace that last a lifetime. We find the beauty when we sit back and really watch the people and parts of nature come alive, even as they subtly change, all around us.
Yes friends, fall is a remarkable and unexpected teacher when we are willing to learn.
