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| Sunny Side Up! Oct. 10, 2001 � 2001, by Kathleen Gibson To everything there is a season� I�ve always loved autumn. Especially the early fall when the stiff breeze carries on its breath the heady fragrance of burning stubble and wood smoke. There�s something bittersweet about these dwindling days that makes me grasp the natural light just a little tighter. Fall sharpens my senses, makes me dawdle on my early walk, appreciating the vibrant splash of color, kicking up a golden cloud of crackling poplar leaves, and cherishing the hope that the chilly morning may yet stir itself into an echo of summer�s warmth. Just for old times� sake. This year it hit me: my life has arrived on autumn�s doorstep too. The season I love best and the season of my life are intersecting. Like the slow whirling tango of leaves from the treetops, experiences from the summer of my life are twirling away too. Courtship, marriage, having babies�those �firsts� are over. And like the season of nature, I want to hold life�s summer close too� Summer memories tantalize me, wafting by in Technicolor brilliance more vivid in retrospect. Unlined face in the mirror. A bridal veil lifting in the breeze. Chubby baby arms outstretched. The cozy warmth of a first home. Excited young voices on Christmas Eve�. �Just one present, pleeeeeese..� With the flood comes the knowledge that one day the memories themselves may become a burden too great to carry. Forgetfulness, humorous cognitive difficulties, skin that stays up when I pinch it, a hip that goes out nearly as often than I do�all indications that my body will not be fooled by the kiss of the noon sun on a warm autumn day. I am, after all, winter-bound. And I expect God to make no exceptions for this middle-aged writer. Unless I die young, I too will wrinkle up, stiffen up, and one day shut up. For good. To everything there is a season, says Solomon. Turn, turn� So why do I love fall? Because, in spite of the bittersweet pang of summer lost, it�s simply glorious. The labors of the previous season have yielded to the enjoyment of its fruits. The exhaustion of trying to cram too much living into overheated days has eased into the invigorating briskness of cool air and the calming stability of sweet routine. Fall is rife with new beginnings, in spite of the dying foliage all around. Second chances, new routines, new seeds planted to lie dormant over winter and leap into chartreuse life next spring. Life�s autumn extends to open-eyed participants the gift of time, unhindered by the complexity of spring�s frenetic growth, summer�s dead heat, and ahead of advancing winter�s paralytic grip�time to explore God, self, relationships, and the world around. Time to consider the past, to prepare for the future. My life�s summer was indeed sweet. But �turn, turn�.� demands that I let it go, embrace autumn instead. The Season Maker has something new on my calendar. I may yet discover life�s autumn is my best season of all. You can respond to this column at [email protected] |
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