Autumn Musings

Happy September, everyone! In the past few years, I'd forgotten how much I love fall. But now that it's here and I'm in school all day, I'm starting to appreciate the things I took for granted when I was homeschooled. 

For instance, snuggling up under the covers and sleeping in on dreary days when I didn't feel like getting up just yet. Hot breakfasts with my family in the mornings. Sitting on the sill of the big window with a book, watching the beads of rain roll down the glass. Drinking hot cider while doing my school in an oversized sweatshirt. Studying in my room with a purring stowaway cat in my lap who is not supposed to be inside. Going outside during the day.

I don't get to do any of those things much anymore.

The things I enjoy most right now are my early-morning walks to the bus stop. The bus picks me up way at the end of our road, so it's a bit of a hike, but I don't mind. It's the only time during the day that I have to myself.

I like those walks very much. I like the feel of the cold gravel crunching under my feet-- the ratty, discolored tennis shoes that I refuse to throw away, despite my mother's pleadings. The grass, tall and windswept beyond the pasture fence, is dewy and even dusted with a little frost some mornings. Spiderwebs, or "fairy looms" as I used to call them, sparkle like diamonds throughout. Our late-blooming sunflowers nod to me as I pass by. The fog drapes over the hill like a sheet, almost touching the ground, and no matter how close I get to it, I can never quite touch it. The Artist has touched the edges of the leaves with russet and gold. And I just breathe all this in, take out my notebook, and write it down.

It's times like this that I feel sorry for people who don't believe in God. How blind can they be? All these beautiful things didn't just create themselves. They have a Creator, who cares for his creation. And that knowledge, I think, makes nature even more beautiful than it already is.

What about you? What are your favorite things about fall?

(Will upload photos in the morning. We've already turned the computer off for the night, so right now I'm on the iPod which is picture-less.)