The leaves have blown away outside my sliding glass door in the woody creek that is one of the last remaining bits of nature undisturbed by suburban sprawl. It’s as if I missed the vibrant colors of autumn out the window and now they have all gone by the wayside in the blink of an eye. The birds are still present, undoubtedly pulling together whatever bits of twisted grass they can find to build their nests for the upcoming winter cold. I have yet to see the deer which inhabited this creek last winter, but I do hope they return to frolic about in the tall grasses. It provides a place of serenity and a reminder that some things in life are simple.
I am inside today but I know that it is cold. I can feel it in the air and see it as the wind blows the long vines that curve up and around the woods not twenty feet from my door. I am never a huge fan of cold, but I appreciate the way that winter causes us to slow down. We will try to fight it by heading to the treadmills and bundling up in our down and permafleece but we will lose. The cold will eventually come and lead us to the traditions of snow days, cocoa, and cuddling up to watch movies. The birds too will fly away and the last bits of red leaves give way to crystalline frost.
It is on this day that I wonder what will happen in this winter. So many big things are ahead and I feel as though it is a freight train pushing past the station to a place unknown. I pray that autumn will gave way to the creeping in winter and slow down this process of change. That perhaps for a day or two we will be able to embrace calm or tradition before it is changed forever.
While the autumn has come fast, I fear the winter will be long and leave lasting impressions or repercussions. For on this day, I hold fast to the lingering leaves of red, brown, and gold. And remain thankful for the bits of verdant grass that have stayed hearty through the up and down temperatures of autumn. So that for at least, on this day, winter will not come just yet.
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