Happy Fall Equinox...

Today is one of 2 Special Days of the Year when Daylight and Dark are in Balance. The Sun rises due East on the Horizon and sets due West. Today we cannot see that Glorious Morning Event because we are cloaked in a luxurious and mysterious Fog. But, beyond that blanket of Fog, we know the Sun sits radiantly in that prescribed spot.

During the coming days, we will watch the Sun's steady progress toward the Southern Horizon. As the position on the Horizon changes, our days will be shorter and Winter will take its hold. As I sit here typing away on this Blog, I feel the Morning Coolness. I should really head upstairs to add a heavier shirt. A cup of Tea would be nice. We shall have to turn on the heat soon.

The Fall Equinox marks a time of Harvest and Abundance. Here at the Farm, we been gathering Earthly Delights by the armload for some time. And just when we think we might have a moment's rest, the Earth blesses us with even more. We are entering the Season when we need to move more quickly. Arms will not be big enough. We need to use the Wagon and Wheelbarrow too.

A Companion to this Season is Gratitude. While our Intimate Tie to the Earth is there every day awaiting our Coming Home, the Abundance of the Earth and her Sustainability of her Human Children is never more clear than in the middle of the Harvest Season.

I felt some Sadness in the Early Morning Hours today. In reflecting on this, I have always felt Sadness as Fall moves into Winter. With the influence of my Human-Centered Culture which denigrates Feeling, I have always felt this strange and have fought this Energy inside Me. Today, I had some Understanding and a bit more Acceptance of it.

We have planted and tended this beautiful Garden, which has at times struggled this Season. Over all, the Garden has flourished, as have we. As I look beyond the perimeter of our cultivated areas, we are surrounded by exuberant Trees, Shrubs, Birds, Frogs, Flowers, Grasses, Butterflies, Creatures and Plants we do not yet even know.

With eagerness, we have watched the Cycles through the Growing Seasons: Tiny and Tender New Leaves of Expectant Green, Leaves Becoming Sturdy and Moving to Mature Green, Flowers Bursting, Fruit Bending Branches sometimes down to the Earth Herself, Seeds Ripening in Promise of Yet More Life. The Garden will soon be gone with Her Rich Organic Material Decaying, Renewing and Replenishing the Earth.

We have watched our Feathered Friends return, set up Territories, sing those Romantic Spring Songs they have waited a whole year to sing. Sometimes the Birds have shared a Secretive View of Nests and Young. Other times, they have brought their Fledglings into the Yard to feed and to introduce them to their Human Friends. Many are gone now. Others are waiting until that Magical Moment when it is their time to head toward their Winter Homes.

All those Companions in the World Around will soon be gone in the Radiant Form we have known and loved this Summer. Shifting past the Fall Equinox, Nature will be quieter. Her Colors which have covered the Spectrum will be narrowed to a select few.

This is a Time of Moving into Darkness. It is the Slumber Time. It is the Rest Time. It is the time of Inner Reflection on the Meaning of All of these Things and our Place among Them.

Indigenous Peoples have celebrated and celebrate the Fall Equinox as 1 part of the "Great Turning of the Wheel". They have recognized the intimate bond Humans have with the Vitality of the Earth and the Cycles of this Wondrous Creation. They recognize that for Humans to survive and thrive, we need to be in sync with the Life that Sustains.

I honor that too.

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Photo Above: A close-up of Okra.