In the season between winter and summer, there is a time when life brings forth its final celebration before the harbingers of winter can make their claims. It is a time of happiness and sorrow. A time of beautiful transformations as summer prepares itself for the fruitless cold that winter brings. Fall is the time of change: in smells, in attitude, and in the shifting of the earth’s gaze upon the stars.
The energy of summer is spent. The sun no longer looks down upon the earth with a burning force. As the heat of the day loses itself, the animals mobilize to save the remaining fruits for the preparation of winter. The foliage that was given the breath of life now returns to the ground what it had taken during summer months. It hopes that the same blessing will be granted once more after the test of winter has been completed.
Leaves lose their vivid green color in exchange for bright orange, red, and yellow. The trees shed their leaves and let them lay on the ground like a royal carpet for the passing of life. As life passes, the trees stand naked as if to show their humility and shame before the last vestiges of summer fades away.
Men finish their final harvest of the year. They prepare a grand feast in thanksgiving of all the blessings they received that summer. The warming smell of day-long cooking fills the air. Extended families gather for the thanksgiving to give the feast more meaning than smaller groups ever could. Recipes never seen during other parts of the year are made to perfection as traditions are upheld religiously by their practitioners. Everything that is not used in the festivals is stored for use during winter. Anything that cannot be saved is used before it spoils.
The very stars shift across the sky, signaling the beginning of a new season. With the very earth leaning on different views, everything else must follow suit in order to survive. In the fall, life slows down to meet the cold pace of winter.
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