Pumpkins and Butterflies
Stop, look, listen, and smell
Those of us living in the Northern Hemisphere have just entered the dark half of the year. As a supremely solar person, I feel a twinge of sadness knowing of the darkness and cold that is to come. But if I can stop thinking of the future and focus on the present moment I am downright euphoric.
Autumn is one of my favorite times of the year. I love the balance of light and temperature. Unlike summer when it is too hot and winter when it is too cold, in Autumn I can leave my windows open all day long. I like that. It makes it easier to listen to the birds.
Everything is in motion here in the little town in which I am currently living. The birds are migrating and so are some butterflies. This is one of only two times a year that we have monarch butterflies around here. Of course they are only passing through on their way to Mexico. Every time I see one I bless it and wish it well on its journey.
The pumpkins are moving, too. With the help of farmers and thieves, they are moving from the fields into town where they congregate at the farmer’s market and roadside stands before dispersing to homes throughout the town.
I like pumpkins — especially those that have not been carved up. It is probably because they are orange. When I was a kid orange was my favorite color. That is one thing I do not like about Winter. In Spring there is an abundance of orange flowers. In Summer there is an abundance of orange-colored fruits. In Autumn there are plenty of orange pumpkins and orange foliage. But in Winter there is a serious lack of natural orange.
It won’t be very long before the bald eagles arrive. I have not seen one in the seven and a half years I have been living here but according to local ornithologists there are bald eagles that winter here. Apparently, these eagles summer in Northern Minnesota. If I lived in Northern Minnesota I would also head south after entering the cold and dark half of the year.
Wouldn’t it be cool if it were Autumn all year long? Of course not! How can we truly appreciate Autumn without the contrast between it and the other seasons?
September is quickly running out. We had an extremely powerful new moon earlier this month and we are about to have an extremely powerful full moon. (Cue Neil Young’s Harvest Moon.) One thing I like about the moon is that no matter what season it is the moon is always up there in the sky guiding us.
Soon I will be going through Fall Foliage Rapture. Then I’ll be having fun like a kid as I stomp through piles of dried leaves on the sidewalk. Then I’ll be shoveling snow off those sidewalks and slipping on ice and falling on my ass. And then, thank God, daffodils will bring me back to life.
The fun just never stops.
I just remembered something else I love about Autumn. It is green chile roasting time! Hallelujah! The smell of roasting green chiles is one of pure olfactory euphoria.
Happy Autumn everyone! Don’t forget to hug a pumpkin.
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Read my blabbering about this month’s new moon here:
