Colours of Change
As long as I can remember, fall has been my favourite season. I don’t know if it is the smell of firewood in the golden evenings, the crackling of leaves from walks in the woods, the warm sweaters and company that comes together over hot drinks and filling turkey dinners or simply the colours of change.
There is a comfort in the air that only stirs this time of year. It is the brisk breeze and shorter days and the realization that summer is truly over. It is the unpacking of stowed away sweaters and socks and the smell of cinnamon and bonfires. It is the orange that dances in the leaves of maple trees and pops in the fields of pumpkins.
Mostly, it is the closing of one chapter and the beginning of another. It is a time to be surrounded by family and friends alike and to give thanks for the things we would normally take for granted.
This year, I have so much to be thankful for. Too many things to write, but the following stand tall above the rest.
This is what I am thankful for
I. I am thankful that I always have a place to call home
and a family that welcomes me and supports me through thick and thin. It is their unconditional, irreplaceable love and care that I am beyond grateful for.
There was a framed card in my bedroom when I was little that I got as a gift from my mom and it showed two people walking in the rain. The card read, “I am thankful that even when it’s raining I have people to count on”. When I was younger, I never really understood the card. I took it WAY too literally, I was really confused about why my mom thought I needed help in the rain… but now this message has become extremely prevalent in my life.
II. So, this year, I am thankful for my friends
the friends that make me laugh when I am feeling low, that check in on me and reach out to me because of their caring hearts, that support me and love me and truly encompass what it means to be a true friend. I am grateful to be surrounded by people that I can count on for the good and the bad.
III. I am thankful for life’s opportunities
that I am able to attend university in another province, that I can travel and visit the places I have always wanted to, that I live in a country that is safe, free and shares my values.
The following is a piece that I thought was too beautiful to not be shared
Please Enjoy.
Into the Golden Hour
A Piece by Austin Sailsbury
A change is in the air; a great mellowing. It’s in the wind, in the earth, inside each and every one of us. And somewhere, not far off in the distance, woodsmoke is seasoning the evening sky.
Each year, autumn arrives all bluster and, like an old friend, invites us to come outside and enjoy a few more days of color and light. In the fall, we watch the sky. We listen for rain. We stop to watch the trees and their painted leaves. We pack away our beach chairs and unpack our woolen socks. We settle into our long pants and our sturdy boots and our trusty old raincoats. We return to books half-read and sweaters half-knitted and favorite old recipes, written in our mother’s hand. This time of year, we remember our love for pumpkin and pecans; we pick barrels of apples and bake with buckets of cinnamon.
Each year, autumn reminds us to return to the routines that anchor our lives in time. We feel nostalgia deeply and embrace ritual fiercely. We go home again. We relive glory days. We gather together in September stadiums, around October bonfires, and at long November tables. And in the shadow of the dimming natural world, we tell and retell tales.
In this way, every autumn is another turned page, another chapter completed, a bit more perspective on the full story of our lives: the rising and the falling, the discovery and loss, the sacrifice and surprise. And isn’t this he story of all of life, of ends that follow beginnings and then make room for new beginnings? Without this rhythm, this eternal cycle, how could we ever be whole?
So, let’s harvest all the light and life and goodness that we can. Here and now, during the sweet golden hour of the year.
My Thanksgiving Weekend Vlog Below:
