Wind, Leaf, November

Reflections from a wintry autumn walk.

Oh northernly wind, you bring a reminder to me in this season: I am alive. How easy it is to forget that I'm on a rotating sphere of molten rock and water and earth. How quickly I become buried beneath the shoulder ache of daily chores, the dishes in the sink, the baby crying in her crib, the groceries that call to me from the store late at night. But your blustery wind of frost and swirl of amber orange wake me up again, signaling to me the orbit beyond my own. 

Oh first leaf, your brave surrender to time and start of beautiful decay sends a spark through my heart. Brilliant in color and triumphant in your old age, you remind me that I too grow in years and bring forth new hues. Your venation, once leafy and green, becomes a delicate crunch beneath the trees. The lines on my own face deepen and stretch. I look in the mirror and witness the tangible markings of time. We together live and let go of who we were, die to ourselves again and again so that we can rise. 

Oh great November, you bring the herald without me even asking, whispering that renewal is always ready for me to reach out and claim. You point me back to my Creator with the smell of woodsmoke and apples and wet leaves returning to the earth. The shifting light shifts my heart; the shadows on the wall of my kitchen are soft and tender. I wrap my body in wool and warmth as I wrap my mind around new possibilities of change. 

---