Many reasons to appreciate the fall season

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I can look out the office window as I write this, with the curtains framing a small column of fall colors beyond. There is a huge tree that every year drapes itself with climbing color; every shade of red, green and everything in between. Two maple trees grace our front yard, one on each side of the house. The youngest is showing some color change already, but impervious to any human determined calendar, the elder maple waits.  The season of fall is upon us and the subject of my top-10 list this week. The color of fall has to be my No. 1

No. 2 has to be squash. We’ve had it for dinner twice in the last week. Both times it was butternut. The first dinner we simply had it baked, with butter and brown sugar added. I could have eaten the whole thing, but of course, shared it with my wife. The second time she made a delicious soup. Because the consistency was not to her liking after following the recipe, she added a second squash. That meant we have squash soup saved for today, tomorrow and the day after. Delicious! I’m certain acorn squash will be next, for several fall and winter meals.

No. 3 is, there’s a good chance I can put the mower away. As dry as it’s been, our grass is not growing. Of course, we have to have rakes at the ready, and we may have to mow leaves if the wind doesn’t blow them down the street to some other yard. A new snow shovel is also in order, just in case, as our plastic push shovel is worn out on one side.

Fall is soccer season. That’s No. 4. Since so many of our grandchildren played soccer, we got in the habit of following their games, especially our granddaughter on her college team. We could usually get those games on the screen when we weren’t able to be present in Boston. Now we look forward to standing at the fence and watching the SDSU soccer team.

There’s something extra special about having a home-grown tomato sandwich for lunch at the end of the growing season. There are still a few. This is my No. 5.

Maybe it should have been closer to the top of the list. You can’t beat temperatures in the 60s and low 70s. I’m not sure I would last in more tropical climates, especially as climate change warms the world. Sweatshirts and long sleeves are back on the fashion list and invigorating temperature is my No. 6

No. 7 is the southern sun. As the sunshine moves south, it shines less on my tomato plants (leaving more fruit green) but more warmly on my back (leaving me more flushed); as I sit in the front room where sunlight filters through the series of south facing windows. Especially when winter approaches, that seat on the couch can be the best place in the house for warmth and a sense of comfort and satisfaction.

No. 8 is soup. What more does one need? A slice of bread and a bowl of warm soup on a fall day and you have the best that nature can provide. It could be tomato, or broccoli cheese, or lentil, or potato, onion or corn, or even a mixture of fresh vegetables. What could be healthier and more refreshing on a cool fall day?

Driving back from teaching in Watertown once a week, I’m especially aware of the changes in light and darkness. The sun sets a little sooner with each passing week. By the end of the semester, I know I will be driving home in the dark. It reminds me the whole earth is moving in relationship to that life light we call the sun. The quality and quantity of light in the season we call fall reminds me humans don’t control the seasons, although we can impact them. The relationship of the light to the dark is my No. 9.

No. 10 is the sense of security one feels with the changing of the seasons. In a world where humans seem bent on controlling everything, even the seasons for good or for ill, there is comfort in knowing our amazing earth and sun still control the seasons. Biosphere 2 left its inhabitants hungry and struggling to breathe. Our polluting the earth and the air sends us in the same direction. I prefer other than humans in charge of the seasons and give gratitude for the signs of fall. The security of divine direction, not human, to our planet and its processes is my No. 10.