I should be pulling out my long sleeves and finding my boots. I should be shivering when I open the door in the morning. I should be experiencing the cool, evening breeze reaching for a blanket and a cup of hot tea. It is fall afterall.
The whisper of fall two weeks ago hinted that things were changing and that it was almost time for the season to change. But fall came with another heat wave and temperatures in the 90s. As we sweated outside this weekend, I longed for two weeks ago when we were contemplating all the fun fall traditions we have. I wondered what it would be like to roast marshmallows in our new backyard.
When seasons change, sometimes they aren’t what we anticipated or even hoped for. Sometimes the new season makes us long for the season we just had or that this fall would look like last fall. When seasons change, we can find ourselves looking back over our shoulder and missing what the present moment. We can forget that so much of what we are experiencing here and now is what we longed for in another season.
It would have been easy to let this Autumnal Equinox pass saying, “Well, it’s not really fall yet because it doesn’t feel like it.” Sometimes when we want things to be a certain way, we miss the beauty and contrast of welcoming a new season in all its unexpectedness and surprises.
No, I’m not grabbing my coat this fall morning, but I am watching the sun rising a bit later and marveling at the leaves changing all over again. They don’t seem bothered that it’s warmer than usual. They still know it’s time to let go.