I was out wandering last night and I found myself thinking about the seasons and how beautiful October is, draped and drenched in endless gold and yellow. The steppe holds a gentle warmth, an openhanded kindness as the nights grow longer and darker and colder. Each afternoon shines down like a gift on my bare arms and uncovered face. Summer has passed and I do not miss it, I am ready for the season I am in. I am attentive and shifting gears.
I find I’m always ready for the change of seasons. I wondered about that for a while as I walked through the sagebrush last night. I often hear people say they have one season they prefer most and I genuinely don’t prefer one over the others. I adore all four seasons for exactly what they are and what they bring to my life. Some folks hate to be hot or cold or raked over by gale force winds or given the task of shoveling the driveway or warming up or cooling down the car — I accept and even anticipate the duties that come with the seasons. I wonder if there’s a season we don’t enjoy it’s because we have removed ourselves from the rhythm of it? I think the closer we live in league with what the seasons offer us, even the discomforts they provide, the greater our ability to appreciate and even love the uniqueness of each season.
When the garden freezes and the garlic is planted, we rejoice! We’re ready for fall. When fall grows cold and dark and the days brim with inhospitable winds, we are ready for the quietude of winter and rest — we are mammals, after all. When the snow and ice melt and spring comes sneaking fuzzy-green across the steppe, I am eager to hear the first meadowlark. When the heat of summer arrives, my skin drinks the sun thirstily and I grow sleek on garden forage.
I don’t want an endless summer. My body is not equipped to entertain such a novelty, it goes against my ancestry. I want the seasons and all they bring to bear — the rhythms and structure and work and good health and beauty. Most of all, I want the liturgy each season speaks over my cells, my DNA, my soul.
The benediction, no matter the season: Go forth in peace and joy. Work hard and be human.
Amen.
October is half spent but endlessly golden. I’m here, now, living beneath the sunrises and sunsets, embracing the changes, chopping wood and carrying water.
I’m so grateful for the internal rhythm that seasons add to me! I do try not to play favorites, but there is something about the fields of gold during fall in Idaho. I’m also growing a special ‘project’ over here SW of boise. Wishing you all the best for the remainder of pregnancy!
I love your meditation on the seasons and whole heartedly agree. I live in the Midwest where we experience all four seasons whole heartedly(or at least those of us who revel in the out of doors and choose to move with the seasons do!) I tend to immerse myself in each season while also looking forward to the next. I refuse to eat any fresh berries until they are available from my local farmers, so I find myself dreaming about biting into a strawberry in January. The anticipation is part of the fun! I do so love October thought. Besides being an October baby, the colors, the skeletal outlines of prairie plants against the sun, it’s all so glorious. Wishing you golden light!
This is such a wonderful insight and sentiment to bring forth. I often find myself saying how much I love spring and summer, but it’s mostly because by the end of winter I am SO TIRED of being cold. It’s exhausting. But realistically, by the end of each season, I am well and ready for the next. I will throw my arms open and welcome the warmth and sun of summer, but by September I am ready for some crisp mornings, chai tea, and rain. Each season does indeed have things to enjoy. As we prep to move out of the city and back to some land, I am so ready to feel the chilly wind whipping around my face on winter hikes and the slowness that comes with a different environment. Thank you, as always, for your words.
I also look forward to the change in seasons and take full advantage of all that each season has to offer. There is no point complaining about things that we can’t change; embrace instead! The golds of autumn, the white and greys of winter, the fresh greens of spring and the riot of colour in the summer. I love all of it!
That is one beautiful ring:)
I so enjoyed reading this Jillian! I have thought about your fall season and what types of colors you experience, if Aspens grow near you, as compared to the colors of the northeast. How our sugar maples sure scream hallelujah! I’ve often felt that we have an innate desire for one season over another based on the date & location of our birth and how that season synchronizes with our awakening from hibernation, so to speak. I was born in Spring and every time that season arrives I feel a heartfelt readiness to explore, grow & create, with a need to be close to water & surrounded by a fragrant breeze…then without skipping a beat, I whisper to myself that I’ll miss the snow. XoXo
Your written words put me there. I can feel that fall sun, that crisp air, see the soft colors of the shrub steppe. I love all 4 seasons too. I like to see the changes and experience whatever comes. Thanks for writing about it and the reminders.
💛
Amen.
Oh Jillian! So much happiness felt after reading about the little soul that is arriving! Wishing you simply all the best.
A sentence of some old writing of yours popped in my head out of the blue! It was in a pondering about the nature of your husband work and i remember it something like this “.. and it would mean childbearing in my late thirties or never at all…” .
Do you recogise it as yours? Now we can hoot to you in the past saying it is here! The times is here, it’s happening! Woop woop! So very happy for you all.
Up here in the north of Finland me, my partner and our wee pups (who is absolutely rocking and loving it with her first hunting season) came home exhausted and happy after a day of splendid hunting. I told my partner you are waiting a little one and he asked me “Whooo?” And I went: “You know the writer I’ve told you about who has inspired me so much with the hunting and stuff. The blog I found 11 years ago (holy moly 11 years ago!!) while living in Spain and it was reading and seeing her photos, skiing with her dogs and hunting, that made me realize I wanna go back home, I need to live in winter!! That Woman! She is awesome!” And here at home I am in the mids of seasons seeing the winter arrive. Isn’t it miraculous, this world of ours?
Oh that was a ramble and a half! Thank you Jillian for the years of inspiration and for a place to come and rest your senses in beauty in so many ways. Thank you and blessings your way!!
-Pilvi
Your writing and photos bolster me. I’m so grateful! I feel the colours you describe and show – Now I’m covered in gold! I agree about the seasons … I hear grumbling all around me about this weather or that. But I love what’s happening outside whether it rains or shines. It’s all beautiful and each with its own purpose. Much love xo