Autumn Morning

It was a beautiful morning this morning.

I got to sleep in past 7am and wake up gently rather than to the blaring of my alarm.

I didn't have to be at the racquetball court or at work. It wasn't even like yesterday when I took the day off and wound up in Annapolis at the car dealership before 10am to get Chris's car fixed, when I thought I was going to have a completely different day.

Today was going to start differently I thought--yeah, I would be at the grocery store before 8AM getting the items I needed to make and bake my kick-butt cheesecake which Chris asks for as her birthday cake. We are having the party tomorrow during our Sunday family football gathering.

And then--another hour making the cake followed by hours of baking and post-baking activities associated with this labor intensive cheesecake which I noticed has 520 calories per slice. Ugh! No wonder why I usually have a slice as a meal and I only bake it once per year.

As I was doing all of this and taking Makayla out for her required periodic outdoor activities, I noticed a mum in the garden.

It is one that we put there because it came back after the winter in one of the pots and needed a spot to grow.

It was just spilling color into the world and doing its part to make everyone smile.

Much of the rest of the garden has already surrendered its color to the forces of cold and darkness--but this mum, cheerfully sitting in the front of the garden near the driveway, reminded me that the world is full of color and wonder--sometimes you just need to be open to seeing it.

The color is there--I know it in my head, but sometimes I don't let it into my heart.

There is a tree at the top of the street that is always the first to don its autumnal colors. And I noticed yesterday, that it had begun to fully transition from the green of summer to the orange and red of Autumn. The other trees here are not far behind now.

I still look out my window and see green, mostly. But by next week I expect to see yellows and oranges.

Colors of life to offset the quickening darkness--it is so dark now in the morning when I got to work and even when I play racquetball and come out of the gym I can only see traces of the coming dawn in the sky.

Colors that remind me that on the other side, there is springtime waiting to embrace me with its cool warmth and brightly colored flowers.

Winter is like a doorway--from this year to the next. It is a passage that I make every year, to get me ready for the similar journey I will make someday on my own.

I just need to see the colors and the joy that is there and not focus on the darkness.

I'm not afraid of the darkness--I just prefer the light.

And all of this from running out to the grocery store for cream cheese to bake a cheesecake.

Where did I leave my coffee?