I love fall. I especially love fall referred to as “autumn.” I just love the word autumn. It’s a super cool-looking word, for some unexplainable reason. I’m adding it to my list of “Words That I Think People Should Use More Often.” Except people already use it a lot, I guess. Well, you can always use a word more, even if you already use it a lot. But I’m digressing. Sorta. Because I am a writer, and therefore, I can never really truly be digressing off of topic to talk about words. Words are wonderful things. But that is another topic for another time.
Fall. Autumn. I’m sitting outside on our front porch as I write, just soaking in the season. I find that I’m loving this particular season more and more each year that I experience it. Everything about it is a treat for the senses. The brilliant colors (if you are in the right part of the country, which, alas, I am not; but thankfully I do have access to the internet), the lovely mild weather, those delicious smells and tastes, the anticipation of the approaching Christmas season and the resulting increase of the holiday spirit.
Sometimes I feel it’s a shame that I don’t always get to experience the height of fall colors where I live, but if I think about it, there are still those unique elements of autumn that I do get to experience, even if California is a late — or non-existent — bloomer in the seasons department.
I still get to experience the wonderful, temperate weather, though a little later than other areas. Which could actually be an advantage . . . the fact that fall weather comes a little later means that it might stay a little later than other places, thus giving more time to enjoy it while the rest of the US is already bundling under multiple layers. 🙂
We also still have our share of holiday spirit and seasonal smells and tastes, maybe more extravagantly than some places. Pumpkin spice lattes, freshly-squeezed apple juice, apple pie, Christmas tree lots, pine-scented candles, cinnamon and nutmeg, maple walnut coffee cake, caramel-drizzled pastries . . . ooh, too much goodness. I can’t think about it. I’m making myself salivate.
So anyway, no, I’m not bashing my state in any way, although I am hoping that she’ll get her act together about the rain sooner than later. I miss our green grass. I don’t particularly miss the rain, but I do love green grass, and you kind of gotta have rain to get green grass.
You know, speaking of rain and water conservation and this ol’ drought (which, thankfully, I have not been affected by, other than no green grass) . . . Some people are saying it’s because of climate change, some people are blaming the government, some people are blaming any number of things. But here’s the thing: for those of us who trust in a Higher Power, in a God who is sovereignly directing and controlling every little detail regarding this ball of water and dirt, we don’t have to rack our brains for a solution to the problem or go wild with worry about the countless unknowns clouding the future.
I’m not going to go that direction. Because I have a God who loves me infinitely more than I can comprehend and who knows exactly what He is doing in this world. And He has written these comforting words for just such a situation as we are dealing with now:
While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.
That’s Genesis 8:22, written near to the dawn of time, and God has not gone back on His promise yet. I’m willing to stake my life on the belief that He never will.
That’s my take on the California drought. Just like everything else going on in this world, God’s got this in the palm of His hand. Though it may be a bad thing for the economy, though it may be an evil plot of the government or some other wicked force, God has the ultimate power in this situation, and the ability to turn it into something good, a part of His perfect plan.
Well, I warned you about my rambling tendencies. That was one clear evidence of it. From autumn to conspiracy theories. I guess it does sorta relate. I mean, I got there somehow, didn’t I? You can go back and trace the train of thought throughout the post and then it will make sense. I do that all the time in my internal ramblings. I’ll be thinking of one thing, and then five minutes later, I’m thinking about something completely different, and wonder how in the world I got from point A to point B. So I go back and retrace the trail of thought in my brain, and then it all makes sense.
That’s an introvert trait right there. There is always a clear, logical pathway of reasons for everything that happens in an introvert’s brain, even though it may not appear so after the fact. Just to make that clear.
Until next time, enjoy your fall and go get yourself a pumpkin spice latte (or pumpkin spice tea, if you’re not inclined to coffee) (or vice versa). And enjoy a second one for me, since I am not currently able to obtain such goodness.
Happy Autumn!
~Heather
