Autumn

I was walking the dogs through campus the other evening, getting one last good walk in before Copper gets adopted and the students come back and everything becomes "college-y" again. It was pretty breezy, and I was lost in thought when it occurred to me that the air felt different. It was cool, beautiful, and around 7pm, and I suddenly felt the chill of anticipation I get when I realize that fall is coming.

Fall is my favorite season of the year. Not because my birthday is in September, but because it is so beautiful. I noticed as I walked around that the leaves are already starting to change and drop to the ground, and the air smells more mature. I think that in the spring, the air smells really thin and clean with dirt and wet grass. In the summer, the air is full of pollen and cut grass and car exhaust, so it has a very full, loud smell. In autumn, the leaves start to die, people build fires, and the air smells 'seasoned'. I don't know ... it's hard to explain, but what it boils down to is that fall is my favorite season, and I can tell when it's almost upon us by the way the air changes.

I am re-reading Captivating (for the 7th time) by John and Stasi Eldredge, and I found this quote which reminded me of the smell in the air the other day, and hence, this rambling update:

"...That we even need to explain how beauty is so absolutely essential to God only shows how dull we have grown to him, to the world in which we live, and to Eve. Far too many years of our own spiritual lives were lived with barely a thought to beauty, to the central role that beauty plays in the life of God, and in our own lives. We held to the importance of truth and goodness. Had you suggested beauty to us, we might have nodded, but not really understood. How could we have missed this? Beauty is essential to God. No-that's not putting it strongly enough. Beauty is the essence of God."

I can't love God without wanting an intimate connection with His Creation. He created beauty because we need it in large and daily doses. Nature is not primarily functional ... it is primarily beautiful.

I feel the urge to go hug a tree now.