With autumn upon us, we have begun our annual visual journey to locate the gold and red among the changing leaves on our land. We have already seen a proliferation of brown and yellow, prompted primarily by the severe drought in Texas. The trees, varieties of oak, sweetgum, dogwood have attempted these last several weeks to protect themselves. Leaves have been falling, earlier than usual. We still await the splotches of gold and red that add such color and beauty to the fall season.

On the Sunday before the first day of Autumn, the sound of rain on our metal roof was a welcome to the parched earth. The rain, while not abundant, was enough to create encouragement and the satisfaction that the trees and shrubbery were bowing in wonder at its coming.

Two weeks away and spring, that magnificently promising time of the year, will be upon us. As pleasant as it may seem, its real pleasures will not be evident until some days thereafter. For tornado alley, it will be a time of anxiety and trepidation. For snow belt states, there may linger the promise of more cold weather. Rains may bring flooding. While some days may sparkle with the sunshine, there may be others dreary and not so invigorating. But, fear not, we can march into spring anyway.

There, we may discover the paticular joys that seem always to come with the season. Longer days, starlit nights, Little League baseball, children’s frolic and laughter as they play out of doors, evenings offering invitation to sit outside, later bedtimes, just more all around vitality and enjoyment.