.......the fifth season

Yogis,

Here in the mid-Atlantic we have turned the annual bend in the road where I can’t help but notice the signs that autumn is on its way.  Not unlike the signposts on the highway that every so often tell you how many more miles it is to town, these are not constant but periodic reminders.

I have been watching single brightly colored leaves float unaccompanied to the grass with grace, leaving their friends behind. I can hear the crickets beginning to join their voices into the nightly chorus outside my window. The dew on the grass now has a chill when my bare feet first make contact in the morning. Walking face first into fresh spiderwebs between each set of trees as I travel the path through the woods reminds me the end of summer draws near. 

Like the highway signs though, stretches of time will then pass without them……… Dry spells and oppressive heat settling back in. Muggy nights and bright new blooms on the Zinnia.  The town now seeming far away. This time of year is considered by some as the fifth season……..

Not quite summer, but also not fall. Sometimes referred to as Indian Summer, I find it to be an interesting time.  It can feel like a tug of war. One of my arms being pulled back by the warm and carefree attitude of summer, with the other arm pulled forward by the autumn air and the promise it holds. Back and forth.

There’s the physical of course. Shorts and a tank top one day, a light sweater the next morning. Basking in sun’s embrace and unexpectedly being brushed by a breeze that holds a sweet undercurrent of coolness. Suddenly remembering exactly what it feels like to be in jeans with a long sleeve shirt.

But there is also an energy change.  Once we get close to Labor Day, even on the hottest days, the pool somehow doesn’t have the same appeal.  No kids running through sprinklers, sandboxes and playgrounds a little quieter.  I notice it when I open my drawers. The summer clothes all looking up at me a little dull and tired.  As if they too are winding down. 

My garden knows. Lower leaves on many plants beginning to brown and dry. Bees….but less often. Birds…..but quieter. Yet the oregano and basil still abundant. And while the browned flowers of the bergamot fall, the late blooming sages are just now beginning their show.

The back and forth of this fifth season can tug on the emotions. Those who cling to summer never wanting it to end, saddened by the shorter days and the impermanence of it all. Attachment. Others longing for a faster current pulling us into the fall, irritated by the late ninety-degree days and cranky for having to step into those shorts yet one more time. 

Can I be ok with two steps forward and one step back?  Can I surrender into the heat, keeping my vibration in line with the hum of the insects one day, and then pull on the light blanket the very next without resistance? Without grumbling…….without complaining? In other words, can I let each miraculous day be exactly what it is and savoring it.

Hmmmm….   I am choosing Yes. Join me?

Om,
SARAH