I’ve been in a weird place lately, not feeling like myself. I can’t seem to keep the days straight, which is just not me. I’m attributing some of this to the weather. It has rained for days. My Thursday tennis match was cancelled, and we finally played it yesterday. I had to juggle a few things to make that work, and then Tuesday felt like Thursday, and thank goodness I remembered today was actually Wednesday, because pantry deliveries. Yikes, those seniors don’t need my scatterbrained self forgetting to deliver their groceries! I’m attributing the rest of it to just being over Summer (and so much else – I’m sure like all of you!). The rain finally blew through early this afternoon, leaving behind clear blue skies, low humidity, and the coolest temperatures we’ve had since April? Perfect timing. Hello Autumn!
One of my favorite pastor poets shared these words this morning
Autumn
Autumn comes with a little woven basket
for gathering, harvesting.
She looks at the garden, and you.
A time of plucking,
of saying “Good enough.”
Greater dreams go to the compost pile.
Laying out the fruits, admiring,
thanking, forgiving, noticing
what thrived or didn’t.
Colors deepen,
textures grow small, grasslike.
What is fragile looks boldest in its dying.
Shadows come out of their hiding.
Footfalls rustle.
Chill knocks, and enters.
A time of cherishing, and laying to rest.
Held by a deeper turning, remembering
the seeds we save.
In every space now a grave silence opens,
and singing, grateful,
balanced on this moment.
On the first day of spring
this is what you remember.
Letting go, you dive in.
~Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
My heart is open to Autumn; my body and my mind need a bit more time to make room … I’ll be back here next Tuesday.
Take care. xxoo, M.
mere-et-filles 
Such a lovely poem, thank you so much for sharing. Happy fall!
These transition times are making life feel jumbled up here too. Autumn will be here when you are ready.
I’m so ready for autumn, but part of that includes the weather feeling like it. I’m quite tired of warm and humid in the third week of September. I hope some late-arriving crisp fall weather will help us all.
I’ve felt a little scattered, too. I’ve attributed it to stress from work and the High Holidays messing up my sense of what day it is, but maybe it’s just the season for it. We had rain move through yesterday (even a tornado watch!), and today the high isn’t expected to be above 60. It’s finally fall!
I love summer but that poem is a beautiful way to welcome and honor the gifts of autumn.
The stress of these days is weighing on all of our minds, I think… It is hard to escape it and easy to become encompassed in it. I hope these cooler days are here to stay! 🙂
Andrew’s move seems to signal a “new” season, so re-adjusting to how I functioned before has been a little challenging. New people at work and work feeling like work, and boy, when I walked Sophie this morning I was not prepared for the fall temp at all!
A time of plucking,
of saying “Good enough.”
Greater dreams go to the compost pile.
oh! This hit me. It really captures the feelings of elation and failures with a garden (and other things, I’m sure). What a cozy poem – thank you!
I’m also not feeling like myself, it’s hard to put my finger on. I do think it has something to do with the changing of the season – the shortening of days, the new sun angle. I feel like I need to regain my footing everytime I walk outside. I catch myself trying to understand the sky and it all feels a little discombobulating. And I’m wanting to write more, but am writing even less than usual.
Enjoy your time away from your blog. Can’t wait to read your OLW update next week. xo
I am so happy that it is fall and we are getting closer and closer to sweater weather. I am feeling more like myself after all the turmoil of moving!
What a lovely poem!
I think the changing weather/seasons just bring on the “scramble-y!” I hope you’re finding your way again soon.
XO
It is certainly autumn here in SLC. We are slowly putting the garden to bed, which is a big job but keeps us outdoors and enjoying every last bit of summer/fall. The air is cooler and quite lovely, until next week. Keeping the days straight has been my challenge for some time. I am always wondering what day it is, what’s on my list, and what did I forget! But, somehow things work out and I see that scarmbled part of my brain may be here to stay. 🙂
xo
Thank-you for that lovely poem … Hoping you will feel whatever you need, even if it is ‘not like yourself’; I was just thinking that caterpillars-becoming-butterflies (not that you’re a caterpillar!) must go through a phase of not feeling like themselves either – the process of change and transformation is like that as the familar drops away … Sending gentle good wishes.
Autumn is my favorite season. We had a few cooler days and now are back to three 90 degree days. I’m ready for wool socks and hot herbal tea in the evening. I think everyone is feeling a little stressed and out of sorts. Sometimes I think it is because way back last February when the vaccine was on the horizon and a new administration in office, I felt very hopeful. Now I wonder if I was just naive to think we had turned a corner to our better natures. I try to remember that “the arc bends toward justice” but it isn’t always easy.