Seasons

It was a brisk 21°F this morning.  You know the kind of brisk– when you take a step outside to pick up the paper and your nose hair freeze before you can  quickly jump back inside. (Why did I think bare feet were sufficient? Was it the robin nest blue sky and my foggy brain thinking it was still summer?)  It seems like just yesterday we were enjoying one of the warmest summer seasons on record in Alaska.
The leaves on the trees are brilliant orange, neon yellow and a deep rust color. The colors make their way up the Talkeetna mountains, until they run into snow that is NOT ‘termination dust’. (* Termination dust is the cat and mouse powdered sugar snow that comes and melts; but this snow is substantial enough that it won’t be going anywhere soon.  First Americans say once termination dust falls, we have 6 weeks before real winter.)
As I look at the bounty of over 400 jars of canned garden delicacies Bill has labored over and created, I know it’s true. The season has changed.  The calendar told me so, too.  One more ‘hint’ was the crew Bill is working with had to wait until 11 am for the roads to warm up enough so they could pave, hoping  desperately for another 1-3 weeks to finish up the last of the road projects for the season.
What about YOUR seasons?  Are you noticing the change along with the weather, like me? Are you checking your heart and making sure the major lines that run to and from the vital organ that controls who/what we are have been tuned up? Have your moral compass, your priorities, your passions and “call” from deep within clear?  How you are feeling- physically, emotionally, and spiritually? What things you are thinking about?  What actions you are taking?
Just like the seasons and our ‘Life garden’, our bodies, especially our heart and souls, need transition time to reap the bounties we have been blessed with. Summer days quickly slipped by, way too fast. Now it’s time to make sure we are prepared and ready for the equally fast approaching fall/winter.  Are you ready and equipped? Have you taken the time to pace and rest, just as our gardens need? Who or what are you listening to?  Is it to the still small voice buried deep within, to the precious people in our lives who care about us, to the One we have faith and believe in, or something altogether different?
Wherever you live, one pole or the other, top or bottom, the seasons are changing.  Are you ready?