Fall

Fall has officially arrived here in Oregon. Just one week ago it was getting in the seventies, but now it's crisp and overcast.

Today Sara and I went for a walk out in it, and I was reminded how much I actually enjoy Fall. I know Sara loves it. She says it's her favorite season. She likes the crisp air, kicking up fallen leaves, and all the "pumpkiney" stuff that comes along with fall. She loves pumpkin stuff. Both pumpkins themselves, and pumpkin flavored stuff. I, however, love Summer. All the sun and blue sky. And warmth. It seems all she remembers of Fall is the good stuff, and all I think about it is dreary, constant, gray, overcast wetness. For those of you who haven't been to Oregon, it rains here quite a bit. But more than rain, it's just wet. It's not really rain, but everything somehow is wet, and stays wet. And gray all the time. You can't understand until you come here. It gets pretty depressing. Amongst all that dreariness is a lot of beauty that I tend to forget about, and truly appreciate whenever I encounter it. Like the crispness of the air; the smell of fires in fireplaces; the leaves changing colors and falling, even all that gray wetness can be beautiful at times. Normally I hate that the sun starts setting early, but in the beginning stages of Fall, I even enjoy that. The gray skies are beautiful in their own way in those early evenings, and the rapid darkness forces people to turn on their lights, which to the outsider creates a magical world to look into. There's something so unearthly about light glaring into the darkness. I know it's not as magical when you get inside, but looking into from the darkness it sure does look great. Lewis even commented on this, and the ache for our true home that this creates. Us here in the darkness, looking towards the light and longing to be home and be a part of it.

So it turns out I actually like Fall. A lot. I know after I bit I will be tired and "bored" of it, because I'm a human, and a pretty ungrateful one at that. But also because Fall herself is a part of this fallen world, and she loses her beauty and grows old. I will try my best to seek it out though, and enjoy it while I can, both in the obvious good, and in the seemingly bad, much like I hope to do with this season called my life.