True Colours

As I set out on my late afternoon run, I felt overwhelmed by the beauty I saw all around me.  The ground was covered in a mosaic of warm yellow, orange and red leaves, and the sky was dusted with soft lilac hues.  Autumn is a magnificent season, neither cold nor wind can subdue its flamboyant spirit, or hide its true colours.  It is the last Friday of a very mild Autumn and, despite my laboured breathing as I plodded along, it felt as if there was a hush over the day, as if nature was taking a brief pause while drinking in the last sunrays of the day.  I could not help but think that maybe, like nature, we should also sometimes pause for a moment and just be.  Breathe and enjoy the moment, allowing the glow of autumn to enfold us.  It reminds me of what is written in Ecclesiastes; there is a time for everything - a time to be born, and a time to die, a time for laughter... Seasons.  Seasons begin, and seasons end, yet each one has its own beauty and its own purpose.  For me Autumn is a season of contemplation, a time filled with gratitude for the good times, to give thanks for the joys and gifts of past seasons.  It is a time to enjoy the harvest after the labour is done.  It is also a time to prepare for the winter that awaits, when the days are cold and the winds are harsh against our cheeks.  It is the memories of these golden days that sustain us through the gray of Winter.  

Enjoy the last few days of this gentle season for soon the frost will steal the last colours from fallen leaves.

I leave you with this quote by John Donne , 

“No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace as I have seen in one autumnal face."

[The Autumnal]” 

― John Donne, The Complete Poetry and Selected Prose