Today was truly a day the Lord hath made, beautiful blue cloudless sky and warm bright sunshine. I love these days when there’s the slightest touch of fall blue in the sky color. Pondered on the porch swing with my coffee this morning. These mornings are feeling more like fall every day. Some early leaves are beginning to slip into their colorful fall cardigans, dressed up for their flight to the earth’s floor. I love cool mornings and enjoy sitting in the swing as the day warms. “Make your front porch a part of your home, and it will make you a part of the world,” John Sarris.

Lots of birds in the yard today, singing and visiting the feeders and birdbaths, their happy chatter making music in the sunshine. I’m hearing a quiet Monday morning bird song symphony blending with a soft wind chime concerto. I’ve loved birds since I was a child. My father and I used to walk around on one of his farms he called “The Bottoms” on Sunday afternoons. While we walked, he’d point out the birds and mimic their calls with his whistles. He helped me learn to identify them by their feathers and their chirrups. I treasure these memories now.

I’m sitting on the porch after supper enjoying the gloaming slowly pulling down the light of the day, deepening the shadows of the coming darkness, sending the cardinals home to their nests. The sunset was so pretty tonight. Mother Nature lay the sun down under a folded quilt of peach and turquoise clouds. I hear a lone freight train whistle as it heads out of town, the train cars clicking on the metal rails on the crossties of the tracks, the whistle lonely, blowing loudly at all the town’s railroad crossings. Always had trains where I lived and I love their horns and whistles and clickety-clacks. They always sound mournful as the sounds echo down the tracks in the darkness.

It was almost cold when Penelope and I went on our early morning walk, a heavy cool breeze blowing, testing its strength for the coming season of fall. Even the old oaks’ leaves rustling sounded like fall’s music. I love living where the seasons change. Ecclesiastes states “for everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” I think these scriptures are so beautiful as they describe life. In Genesis 8:22 we read of God’s promise following the Great Flood that “as long as the Earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold, and heat, summer and winter, day, and night will never cease.”

Maybe fall is my favorite season. I love the color of the deep blue sky, the glorious reds and yellows of the maple tree leaves, the pirouetting of the golden water oak leaves as they dance to the ground, the little acorn bombs falling on the tin roof next door, the squirrels and blue jays gathering acorns, the crisp morning temperatures, sleeping with the windows open, the colorful pumpkins and vivid mums, the beautiful migrating birds, being cool enough to wear a colorful cardigan, college football games, Halloween and Thanksgiving holidays, the golden sunlight of autumn and its warmth as it touches my face….

William Cullen Bryant wrote, “Autumn, the year’s last, loveliest smile.” The earth does smile beautifully in fall. “Anyone who thinks fallen leaves are dead has never watched them dancing on a windy day,” Shira Tamir. That is my favorite autumn quote and I’ve watched the water oak leaves dance all day. Albert Camos captured autumn perfectly writing, “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” I’m going to remember that quote as the leaves flower with color. We all need to embrace the faith and hope that come from God’s changing seasons and enjoy each seasons’ beauty.

“The swing on your porch is a better liver of life than the chair in front of your desk.” — Terri Guillemets