Practice The Pause...
I wrote about Fall arriving a few posts ago, but I can’t get away from thinking about this season. I know, here in the desert it is not like we have four distinct seasons…they all show up when they want and, except for Summer, only stay a month if we are lucky. However, Fall brings out all of the feels for me. Currently, we are enjoying some cooler temperatures and I’m praying that the trend continues so that, by the time you are reading this, we might truly be having an actual Autumn here in the Old Pueblo.
As I type this, I am looking out of my window at the desert plants in our yard moving pretty animatedly in the wind. And yes, I did type desert plants, but I don’t mean cactus. I am not a fan of cactus in my yard. I like them everywhere else – just not in my year (perhaps that comes from the trauma produced when we removed 20 LARGE prickly pear cacti from our backyard 20 years ago. Nope, just don’t want them as landscaping!). What you didn’t read is desert plants which are changing color. Yeah, we don’t have those here. At least, not in the way most people think of Fall colors. I mean, our plants change colors – they go from vibrant and alive to brown and dead, usually overnight! One of the things on the top of my bucket list is to see the true color in the Northeast someday (add that to seeing the cherry blossoms in D.C.). Alas, for now, I will settle with our desert foliage that stays one color until it perishes!
I’m sure you are starting to wonder what my long-winded rant about desert plants has to do with all the good feels about Fall. Well, the fact is, no matter what the thermometer says, once October hits I want all of the pumpkins out in the house, and I will wait as long as possible (usually mid-October) to purchase pumpkins for the front porch so that they last through until Thanksgiving. This doesn’t always happen since they have either been destroyed by the hot temps that snuck up on us or by the herd of javelina that think I put them out for a midnight snack! Additionally, as soon as Trader Joe’s has the Fall Blend coffee out in September, I am stockpiling it with each store trip. Oh, and I buy lots of canned pumpkin as well.
There is simply something about the calendar changing to October that makes me want to settle in and enter into the world of cozy. This has a lot to do with my love of all things hygge (see past posts and episodes on this way of living). Of course, this year is different as I am still unable to taste and smell many of those things that bring about memories and draw us into a moment. However, I remember the smells and the tastes, and I still bake and light candles mostly because it is about creating an environment of cozy. I know the house smells amazing when there is pumpkin bread or coffee cake in the oven. I know that the candlelight and smell bring warmth to the house when the sun sets earlier and rises later in the day. These things bring a sense of peace and calm to our home, to my heart, and to my mind.
If you have listened to the podcast or read several of my blog posts, you know that one of my favorite times of the day is first thing in the morning (I get up very early) when I grab a cup of coffee and head to my office/craft room to sit in a comfy chair and spend time in silence as I wake up fully. This becomes even more of a favorite in the Fall. As the sun rises later, I am usually in the dark room for much of the 90 minutes I set aside. I love to light a candle, drape a soft blanket over me and watch out the window as the sun begins to rise, the hummingbirds start to visit the feeder at my eye level (and within arm’s reach if the window were not between us) and to enjoy every sip of coffee in silence. It is a slow waking of the world around me that brings my heart happy every day, but especially in the Fall months.
I think I have begun to see the months of Autumn as God’s way of using nature to remind me to be very intentional with the ‘pause’. To breathe in a little deeper. To exhale a little longer. To sit and linger in the wonder of all that is around me. That is not to say that the months of September, October, and November aren’t filled to the brim with sports and events leading up to the holidays (in the church world this is the ramping up of the busy season), but those things don’t negate the need for the slow pace – even if it is simply entering the day with the intentional pace of a snail and the deep breathing of a master yogi!
Let’s practice the pause together this season.
Breathe in…breath out…
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
