The Wheel of the Seasons has turned yet again.  Yeah, it turned right past Summer this year.  For reasons I've already mentioned, Summer is incredibly busy, and fun at the same time, and I didn't find time to say anything about it this time, but it was tremendous.  The best.  Summers like these haven't been done before.  

Now we've moved on, to my absolute favorite time of year.  I'm a Winter guy at heart, truly, but half of what I love about Fall so much is I have all the anticipation of the stuff that comes with Winter in addition to the beauty and deliciousness of Autumn.  When you're in the midst of Winter, it's easy to dwell on how quickly the fun is going to breeze by.  Yeah, I know most people probably can't relate to that, but I love the cold, and the excuse to start fires.  In Autumn it's already chilly enough in the evenings and mornings for me to justify keeping the hearths and stoves (and ovens) lit to spread warmth and cheer.  

My favorite part about Autumn has to be the juxtaposition of everything that's going on - bright colors all around you, but colors that are actually the herald of death.  Celebration for a harvest that began at Midsummer, but also mourning of those that have passed and are about to pass.  Good food, good drinks, good times, but also the never ending reminder of things that need to be done while you can and the weather is cooler, lest you fall out of sync with Nature in the months to come.  

To me, no season so thoroughly demonstrates the union of opposing forces as Autumn, and those are forces which you need to understand, and live in harmony with, if you want to live in harmony with the world.  Try as we might, we can't completely bend this cosmic show to our will.  We can move Heaven and Earth to outdo the inevitable for brief moments in time, certainly, but often we have to ask ourselves if that's really worth the potential energy which might better be used elsewhere.  

Death is coming, the shade and tranquility the trees and shrubs have afforded us for months now will soon be laid bare, but while the life-giving foliage and fruits prepare to move onward, to be reborn next year, it promises to make every passing minute more beautiful until the end.

That's what I like to ask of my frens, and myself, every year.  The inevitable isn't something to rage against, none of us choose the moment, save perhaps cowards.  The inevitable is something to motivate.  

Live every day to the fullest, pass your greatest on to the world as if tomorrow the final chapters of your story will be told, and it shall have no time for edits before heading to the presses.  Autumn is the swan song, the culmination of a life well lived, the true defiance of what you cannot avoid, so that you pass into true immortality - the purity of memory, to rejoin your ancestors and be measured against their deeds.  

This is why our fabricated culture seethes and sputters with such vitriol at the thought of people being proud of your ancestry - people living their lives in such a way are proud, strong, and indomitable.  They do not bend to whips or fall prey to petty distraction, for they understand the true meaning of it all.- Joy, family, legacy, and a story worth remembering.  

A man who walks straight and true into the inevitable does so with the confidence that precious time has not been squandered.  So ask yourself, my friends, each day you might find the time, find a moment's peace from working odd jobs high upon the scaffolds of this house of cards, what will you do today that is worthy of remembrance?

As we light the candles and set the table in remembrance of our ancestors and all of those we love that have now gone on to fertilize our future, think upon that.  Think upon what you can do better this year.  In the end, that's the only thing we could have controlled.  That's the only question that matters when you return to dust.  Did you strive to be better day after day?

If you did, I guarantee you will be loved, and worthy of remembrance. 

Happy Fall, poasters!

Please celebrate, poast, and spice responsibly.

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