Today is the Autumn Equinox, time gets shorter now

Sage/Debs · Today is the Autumn Equinox, time gets shorter now

Ah Fall, leaves turning the colors of fire, grass slwing down and browning, that nip in the air, maybe perfumed with some woodsmoke. Tis time to be the squirrel, the bear, the bird...time to ready for the ong cold times ahead. This day is a day of complete balance...

I'd like to share this lovely missive, I could do no better painting a picture with words.

Welcome, autumn

By Susan Tarr
Sunday, September 20, 2009 9:26 PM CDT

Sept. 22, the autumnal equinox will occur at precisely 9:19 p.m.

On this day, we'll see the sun for twelve hours and live without it for another twelve. After that, the amount of daylight and dark will no longer be equal. The amount of daylight will steadily decrease until here in the northern hemisphere, we'll experience more dark than light.

I'm ready. Now that county fairs are over and school is back in full swing, I welcome this new season -- one with a curious air of urgency as everyone scrambles to get things done. Crops are ripe and in need of harvest. Our homes shout their need of preparation for the Old Man's return. Many abhor this time of year simply because in the shadow of diminished light, winter lurks.

This new season is not one to mourn summer's end, but rather, a time to celebrate. Each new season bears its own special gifts. Imagine life in a world perfectly balanced with half day, half night -- no distinct seasons, and very little change -- a world where every day is exactly the same as the one before. No thank you.

The area where we live is marked by change. Each new season brings new adventures, new sights, new sounds and aromas. Change, though not always welcome, is a good thing. It not only prevents complacency, but also gives our lives a sense of direction.

Gone now, are barn swallows and ruby-throated hummingbirds. Hanging baskets filled with fuchsias and petunias at the end of their life cycle appear tired, almost as if they beg for frost to end their misery. Even purple ironweed, coneflowers and Queen Ann's lace are spent -- just like the late blooming roses along our dog-yard fence. In their place, chrysanthemums now bloom in profusion. In the fields that surround my home, goldenrod blooms in seas where dandelions and daisies once nodded their heads.
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Vegetable gardens are ragged. Most plants have already withered and died all on their own without benefit of a killing frost. It has come to my attention that frost is not needed to end the gardening season. The plants themselves know when their time is up.

Now, whenever Vernon and I walk, my sweatpants and my dog's black coat are covered with a variety of “hitchhiker” seeds, all of which have only one thought in mind -- dispersal. Burdock and Spanish needles cling to Vernie and me in hope they'll be brushed off clothes and fur in a place suitable for germination next spring. All around us, downy seeds from milkweed and thistles parachute through the air to wherever the breeze carries them.

While afield this past weekend, I couldn't help but notice how the woods gradually opens up. Only a few days ago, summer's lush green mantle shrouded the view a few feet beyond wherever Vernon and I stood. Now, summer's curtain slowly lifts to reveal an under story that withers as the forest carpets its floor with the season's first fallen leaves. The honking of Canada geese fills my ears as flocks head south -- a sound most delightful to me. In the wee hours of the morning, while I lay awake anticipating and planning the school day ahead, I often hear the tremolo of screech owls as they communicate with each other from the wetland across the road from my bedroom window.

Just as the “greening-up” process marches inexorably toward summer, so too, does autumn's “de-greening” rush headlong into winter.

The season of spring leaves me spellbound long before I'm ever able to satiate my appetite for change. So too, does autumn pass before I am ever able to drink my fill.

I look forward to the time when all deciduous trees shed their tired green robes for brightly-colored pajamas as they settle down for their long winter's nap.

I welcome autumn as I once welcomed spring.

Both seasons are perfectly balanced in their splendor.

Susan Tarr is a resident of Cherrytree Township. She is an elementary schoolteacher in Oil City and can be reached at Starr1951@earthlink.net

Sage/Debs

The equinox energy is available three days before, the day of and three days after the actual moment that both the northern and southern hemispheres receive the same amount of sunlight and darkness.

This is a time of balance, transformation, releasing and gathering. This is a time to reflect on our own light as well as our darkness. We need to allow the autumn seasons energy to help us, it is easier to release the old, prepare for stillness of winter, and in time, renewal at the time of the spring Equinox in March.
In the releasing, we have the opportunity to let go of any energies that are not our own. Energies that are draining rather life giving hold us back, and prevent us from fully realizing the truth of our being. A good time for a cutting ceremony to end negative ties.