Le Quattro Stagioni
I have always enjoyed the variety involved in the changing of the seasons. I am blessed to live in the state of New Jersey. Within my state, every year there is a clear-cut difference between each of the four seasons. The cold frostiness and quiet of winter. In spring, there is warming and renewal. Summer brings sunshine and swimming. Then topping things off is the cooling and pleasantness of autumn. Each definitely has its own unique personality.
The Four Seasons (Le Quattro Stagioni in Italian) is a famous group of four violin concertos by the Baroque composer Antonio Vivaldi. These concertos give musical expression to each of the four seasons. These concertos are probably the best known of all his works. They have been used as background music in countless movies, tv shows and even commercials.
Just as each of the concertos has its own “personality” so to speak, so do the actual four seasons that you experience – winter, spring, summer and autumn. Of course, where you live in the world has a lot to do with the personality of the seasons in your locale. A person living in Arizona or Florida obviously has a different experience than a person living in Maine or Minnesota.
That Special Moment
Every year, there always comes the arrival of that special moment that quickens the beat of my heart. It is that moment, during one of the days in September, that I perceive that my love, Autumn, has come back to me for three wonderful months.
It could be a little nip in the early morning air. Perhaps it is observing a flock of migrating birds. It may be the first sighting of pumpkins for sale at a local farmers market. The first viewing of a football game may do it. Or it could be something as banal as a sign advertising the opening of a Halloween superstore. Whatever the moment happens to be, I am thrilled that my love has now come back to me. For three glorious months, I get to luxuriate in the return of the crème de la crème of seasons, autumn.
My First Time
I think that I felt the first stirrings of my lifelong love affair with autumn when I was just a pipsqueak of five years old. We piled into the car and my Mom drove me and my brother out to a roadside farm stand that was connected to a large apple orchard. We bought a basketful of apples. In those days, they gave you the basket along with the apples. We also splurged and got a gallon of freshly-squeezed apple cider. Even though it emptied her purse, we also got a nice, big pumpkin.
After our purchase, Mom drove to a nearby peaceful, wooded park. We had ourselves a nice little picnic. The weather was pure autumn. The air was crisp and very comfortable. All the humidity of summer was gone. The day was gloriously bathed in sunshine. The leaves on the trees were showing off with their annual pageant of colors, seeming to shine in the golden October sunlight.
Those Winesap Apples
It was a day of apples as we sunk our teeth into those juicy, tart Winesap apples. Mom had brought some paper cups from home. We savored some of that apple cider. Mom shook some cinnamon from a little tin into her cider but I wanted mine plain. We ate our baloney and cheese sandwiches that Mom had packed.
Later, we watched a large gaggle of geese flying overhead in perfect “V” formation, honking as they flew to someplace else. In the distance, at the edge of a clearing where the tree line started, we spied a fox. After we were done eating, my brother told us a story about an old house in the area where we lived that was supposed to be haunted. That really got my five year old imagination going.
When my brother was done telling the story, he got the football out of the car. He and I tossed it around, practicing “going out for passes”. Being older, his passes were much better than mine. Afterward, I walked over to some trees and grabbed a bunch of different colored leaves off the ground for my “collection”.
Even though I had the pea brain of a five-year old, I distinctly remember everything about that beautiful day. As we got into the car to leave, I remember thinking to myself, “I really love autumn”.
Oh Those Marvelous Charms
Just as a finely cut diamond has many facets to it, so does autumn.
Perfect weather. Cooler but not cold temps. Humidity goes on extended vacation. The unique crispness of the air. Flannel shirts and sweaters. Blankets at night.
Nature performs its annual show. The trees do a strip tease. The leaves go out in a blaze of glory, changing over to colorful flowers before they drop. After they have dropped and dried, the leaves sound off one last time with that crunch as you walk on them. The rustling sound of dried leaves as they are caressed by the unique autumn wind. Watching a squirrel find and then meticulously bury an acorn. The famous “v” of migrating birds. Ripe apples right off the tree. Apple cider, both cold and hot. Pumpkins of all sizes and shapes..
The sports. As kids, we always followed the sports seasons, playing neighborhood pick-up games of each sport during its corresponding season. The World Series. The start of football season. Two-hand touch football pick-up games in the street. Basketball season also gets its start in autumn. Playing games on a dirt court with a backboard affixed to a tree.
A new school year. New teachers, new classes, new students, new experiences. College activities. Another step closer to the diploma.
Less annoyances. Those pesky houseflies, gnats and mosquitoes finally go away. Good riddance. No more roaring lawnmowers. You can turn off the noisy room air conditioners and put the fans away.
The holidays. Octoberfest and those tasty autumnal beers. Sweets, costume parties and jack-o-lanterns at Halloween. Thanksgiving. Turkey and gravy with stuffing and all the rest. Pumpkin pie with whipped cream for dessert. No gift-giving, just thanks-giving. Gratitude.
Autumn – Vibrant Yet Calming
Autumn is in my blood. I feel like it is a part of me. Autumn presents an energy-filled potent vibrancy. Yet, at the same time, it has a wonderful calming presence. Vibrant is defined as “pulsating with energy”. Calming is defined as “tranquil and quiet”. It would appear that they are contradictory in their respective natures. Nevertheless, they are both keenly felt when autumn makes its annual appearance. Perhaps it is a feeling that cannot be properly described using words. You have to feel it. And yes, it is a good feeling.
At a job that I worked at for twenty years, part of the day I sat at a desk near the facility water cooler. At the section of the building where I worked, I was the only one there. Thus, I was able to have the radio on without bothering anyone.
One morning, a man who worked at the other end of the building, walked over to the water cooler. He proceeded to fill up his mug with water. At the time that he was there, one of the Brandenburg concertos was playing on the radio. As he was filling up his mug, he said to me, “I guess that music is real relaxing for you.” I responded, “Oh yeah, but also invigorating at the same time.” He just smiled in response. The look on his face however spelled out “Well, it’s not my cup of tea, but I guess different strokes for different folks”. Autumn is in perfect attunement with my own inner wiring.
You Are As A Leaf
Recently, I was seated in my vehicle in a parking lot, taking a short break, as I enjoyed a hot cup of Wawa coffee. This lot abutted a small group of trees that were directly in front of my car. As I contently sipped my coffee, every so often a leaf would flutter to the ground, joining the others who had already left the tree. About a half-dozen or so landed on my windshield. It got me to musing about the similarities between those leaves and human beings.
In one sense, we humans mimic the cycle of life of a leaf. In spring, the various branches of the tree start budding with little sprouts. It takes them a while, but the sprouts eventually grow into to full fledged leaves. In summer, the leaves are in full growth. They fulfill their necessary functions of photosynthesis and transpiration. They provide shade and show off the grandeur of the tree. In the autumn, one by one, the leaves end their cycle of life, going out in a blaze of glory before dropping to the earth. Here they decompose until there is nothing left. In the spring, the cycle starts over again with new leaves.
Last year’s leaves are soon forgotten. The life of a human follows the general course of the leaf. You are born as an infant and ultimately grow into an adult. During the prime of your life, you engage in a number of necessary functions. At the end of your life, you are able to display the wisdom of your years of experience, and then you die, dropping off the tree of humanity. Your body ultimately decomposes and in one or two generations time, you are completely forgotten as if you never existed.
And Yet, You Are Not A Leaf
And yet, at the same time, you are not a leaf. You are a human being created in the image of the one true God, the one true power. You are in the very image of God because of your spiritual and intellectual nature. You possess a thinking mind. A thinking mind that is fully capable, through the infinite power of imaginative belief, of shaping the very reality around you. As you conceive an idea in your thinking mind, as you then truly believe your conception to be true, so then you truly receive. Your acceptance of doubt however always unfortunately cancels the deal.
If Autumn Was A Woman
Each season of le quattro stagioni brings its own unique vibe. Winter – huddle by the fireplace, reflect on things behind and things ahead. Spring – new beginnings, renewal, return of warmth. Summer – balmy days of blue skies and sunshine. Autumn – live fully now as all living things come to an end someday. The leaves drop from the tree one by one. The days slowly grow shorter and shorter. Autumn teaches you not to take any day of life for granted. Let not any day pass by without living in a manner that makes use of everything that is inside you, your real self. Drop the fear. Drop the doubt. Don’t be afraid. Let your true self, beloved by your Creator, come fully to the surface.
This is not some generic autumn fluff piece. You are reading a true love letter. If autumn was a woman, and told me that she could only be with me three months a year, I would still marry her in a heartbeat. That precious three months would fill me with enough inner joy to easily last through the other nine months until her return.
I really, really love autumn.
Conceive. Believe. Receive.