Between Summer and Winter

Between Summer and Winter
By Edwin W. Smith
October 2021

It is popular to write about the colorful leaves of fall, and they can certainly be beautiful. Vivid reds, burnt orange, shades of yellow, shades of brown, and various hues of green for those plants and trees whose colors do not change. A carpet of colorful leaves can often be found covering the ground.

But there is so much more to Fall than pretty leaves. And as the good book tells us in Ecclesiastes, there is a time and purpose for everything under heaven.

Fall is also the season of harvesting the plantings of spring, of picking apples, and drinking hot apple cider. And for some, of canning and preserving nature's bounties for winter.

It is the season of crisper, cooler air, of blustery days and of finding frost on the pumpkins. A time to start wearing sweaters, coats, and shawls. And a time to stock up on cords of wood, coal, or oil, depending on one's heater and stove.

For the young and the young at heart, a time for tricks and treats, candies, haunted mansions, and spooky witches and goblins. A hayride would be fun, and carving pumpkins is a must.

It is, as well, a time for gratitude and to be thankful for what we have, how we have been blessed, and who we have in our lives.

And for us Christians, there is the liturgical Solemnity of all Saints when we celebrate and honor all the saints, both known and yet to be.