My Favorite Season

I slept in this morning - unusual for me.  After a couple of cups of coffee, Emma and I went for a walk.  As I write this at our kitchen table, Emma is making crepes for breakfast.  After I eat, I'll head out to split some firewood and move a handful of sheep over to the neighbors.  Later this afternoon, we'll watch Emma play soccer.  The sky is overcast and the light filtering through the mulberry trees in our yard is golden.  I think autumn is my favorite season!

Partly, I think, this because every thing slows down.  Life is always busy, but I feel like we start running in late February when our lambs are born.  After lambing, we progress to irrigation season, shearing, and then it's summer.  While the equinox is in late September, autumn truly starts for me when our irrigation water shuts off in mid-October.  Once the water is off, I gain an extra hour everyday - no more moving sprinklers.

As Emma and I were walking this morning, I realized that the natural world is also slowing down.  The wild animals are preparing for winter (as we are - splitting wood and filling the freezer with meat are just two of my preparations).  I don't think I could live in a climate where there is no dormancy.  Autumn reminds me that it's okay for me to rest, too!

I know that I'll look forward to the lengthening days that follow the winter solistice - and to the arrival of new lambs, the start of irrigation season, and so on.  But I also realize as I grow older that I'll look forward to these things because autumn has helped me slow down.  Enjoy this fall!