Autumn Leaves

I actually wrote this to Lovetta, but later thought it appropriate for the rest of us also. ~Erin

The leaves are beginning to turn from greens to yellows and reds. As we walk, they crunch under our feet, causing my son Leonardo to describe the fallen leaves as "chips". :)

Autumn is my favorite season. Wearing sweaters and falling leaves, crisp weather and warm drinks. I even enjoy high school football, not because I care much for the sport, but because of my memories of fall games on our home field in a little valley surrounded by autumn leaves.

All of those things remind me to treasure the moment. Autumn seems to appear and depart quicker than I would like. On those mornings I find myself outside in the brisk weather, I realize it is one of the few days that year I will be given the gift of that weather I so love. Autumn reminds me that a time is coming when I will be constrained to the indoors, or battle the cold. A time with shorter days and more darkness. But winter will have it's own beauty. The point is: autumn challenges me to appreciate what I have now.

In essence, the trees are letting go of their signs of life - the leaves. But they will return one day...just in another form. Perhaps the next year will be better for them - less drought and more sunshine. And as we crunch the fallen leaves under our feet, they become a mulch that feeds the earth and provides for the growing things that are yet to come.