October has been a lovely month where I live. Day after day, the skies have been blue, the wind has been mild, and the temperatures warm. The leaves stayed green until just last week. Then, within hours it seemed, the maples in our yard turned a golden yellow and began losing their leaves.
In the fall, there are certain practices I enjoy such as the participation in the harvest, tasks that care for my home, and the various ways that I engage with my favorite time of year. One of those practices involves washing my windows. After the rain showers of summer and most of the dust of harvest has passed, the windows are spotted and very dirty. Some of them have cobwebs matted in the corners.
The timing is important when washing windows. Just the right day must be chosen that is sunny with a bit of a breeze to help dry the glass, but not so chilly of a wind that my hands get cold from the water. This window-washing day must occur after we’ve had a freeze so that the spiders and many of the bugs are gone. Otherwise all my hard work will need done over again because the cobwebs would reappear.
This past Saturday was just such a day. Temperatures were in the upper 60’s, the sun shone bright, and the golden trees reflected in the clean glass as I worked. The whole job takes about three hours but I stay motivated by the thought of sitting by a sunny, clean window in the winter months and looking through glass that is clear of streaks, dust, and any evidence of insects.
Saturday was also a perfect day for harvest, and my husband, his brother, and nephew were making good use of the warm fall day. When my window project was completed, I went to the farm and rode along with my husband as he drove the combine. I try to get at least one day in the field at some point during the month of October. It brings back good memories of riding with my dad when he harvested corn on the farm where I grew up. The crop is planted in the spring, grows to maturity in the summer, and then dries down during the fall. We watch it through all the stages and then find satisfaction in bringing it in from the fields at harvest time.
A Thanksgiving hymn comes to mind that expresses the waiting, the hoping, and the gratitude:
Now thant we all our God with heart and hands and voices
Who wondrous things has done, in whom His world rejoices;
Who, from our mother’s arms, has blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.
Apples are another practice in my habitual fall work. I buy them from a local orchard to make into sauce and filling for pies. My usband and I enjoy a good apple pie in the fall and winter months. A baking pie makes the house smell so delicious and inviting.
Tending the garden and digging the root vegetables, canning the last of the tomatoes and planting tulip bulbs also bring me great joy during this time of year. They are projects I can work on in the evenings during the last light of the day following my working hours in the office. This year has been so warm that even these late hours have been comfortable for working outdoors.
Sunday evenings I enjoy putting together puzzles depicting fall scenes. Two of my favorites are artwork by Charles Wysoki filled with pumpkins, an old mill churning water down a stream, and stone barns. When I get them completed, I hang them up as part of the fall decor in my home.
That is another practice that helps me engage with the autumn season–decorating my home. The bright orange of the pumpkins and the complimenting colors of leaves and Indian corn extend the season indoors. This picture on my mantel is work done by Billy Jacobs. He paints farm scenes in all seasons. I like this one featuring the farmhouse with the weathered barn in the background. I can feel the wind blowing the colored leaves and even imagine the scent of a corn harvest in the breeze.
Fall is a rich season deserving our pause to pay attention, to interact with it, and to celebrate its beauty. I used the word liturgy in the title for this blog because that is how these practices help me. In worship, there are certain things we do to interact with the Lord, to celebrate beauty, and to express gratitude. We can take these patterns beyond the church doors and into our own lives to cultivate a greater awareness of God’s presence in the world and his design for it.
Another hymn comes to mind, so I will quote it here to close:
This is my father’s world and to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me ring the music of the spheres.
This is my father’s world, I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas His hand the wonders wrought.
