Autumn Winds

My granddaughters and I recently talked about summer coming to an end. We’ll know it’s fall, I told them, when the days get cooler, the spray park and splash pads close, and the leaves begin to change their colors and drop from the trees. Another sign to look for, I told the girls, is the presence of the big yellow school buses on the road, colorful symbols that school is in session.   

Technically, summer isn’t over until September 22, the Fall Equinox, but I grew up believing that summer began on Memorial Day and ended on Labor Day, when we had to put our white shoes away until the following year. I’m not packing away the shorts and tank tops yet, as we may need them at least until the first official day of autumn. 

According to the Royal Museums Greenwich, because the earth’s axis is tilted 23.4 degrees, during our summer, the sun illuminates the northern hemisphere more than the southern hemisphere. Thus, while the U.S. sweats, South America and Australia shiver. The longest day of illumination is called a solstice. Then, on specific dates in September and March, it’s even – we get the same amount of sun (unless it’s cloudy). “The plane of Earth’s equator passes through the centre of the Sun’s disk (the moment the Sun passes the celestial equator from the Northern to the Southern Hemisphere)” – thus the equinox. 

I’m glad astronomers and weather people have that figured out. I just know that the hours of daylight will grow shorter, not my favorite part of autumn. Already, nearly every restaurant, bakery and coffee shop is featuring pumpkin-flavored treats to help us get through the lessening hours of sunlight.

But just think of the fun of autumn. The Ashland County Fair will conclude its 2018 run on the fall solstice. The corn maze, wagon rides, corn cannons and pumpkin slingshots will open at Honey Haven Farm on September 29^th. High school football is well underway, and the cannon blasts shook the air as the AU Eagles scored in their first home game last week, only to fall short in the final minutes to Indiana University of Pennsylvania. And the Browns are undefeated!

Another mark of the American autumn is the Halloween candy displays in the stores. Will Americans really pass out that much candy on one night in October, or do they buy it to keep a secret stash in their office drawers? With parties, costume capers, trunk or treat events, and neighborhood trick-or-treating, I guess we do need that mountain of candy, but I’m hoping some gets marked down to half price on November 1, giving me an excuse to stock up at a bargain price. 

Autumn also promises us cooler weather. I’ve been singing Cole Porter’s “It’s Too Darn Hot” for weeks, but soon, we’ll be reaching for our jackets on the way out the door. It may not happen until Christmas, but it’s coming.

Hanging in our chapel is a worship banner quoting Song of Solomon 2:12: “For now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come.” We often speak of spring as a time of new beginnings, yet in our contemporary world, less driven by the cycles of harvest than biblical times, autumn comes with its own share of fresh starts, of buzz cuts, new school clothes, and the obligatory posting of “first day of school” pictures on social media. 

I’m finishing this column on Thursday morning while the delightful and determined Elizabeth Holiday is at her first full morning in nursery school. I’m sure she’s having fun, but the hands of the clock are moving slower than usual for me on this September day, a new beginning for Lizzie and for Nana. She’ll be dating before we know it!

Meister Eckhart reminds us that “suddenly you just know it’s time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings.” I’m grateful our singing isn’t limited to the springtime, and new beginnings aren’t dependent on the calendar or the temperature. Here’s to new opportunities, new friendships, pumpkin spice lattes, and even a “W” for the Browns!