Geraniums

Did you feel it? Did you feel the earth tilt a bit today? This is the day of the Fall Equinox – the first day of the autumn season. Today the sun was exactly above the equator as it made its move from the Northern to the Southern Hemisphere. Today, the North Pole began to tilt away from the sun and day and night were approximately the same length. For the next months the days will be shorter and the nights will stretch out. And as the earth tilted, the season shifted and I am left wondering why, now that the frost is about to come and wilt my dahlias and destroy my snapdragons why now … finally … have my geraniums reached their peak? All summer I have been deadheading and coaxing and fertilizing and after weeks of reluctance, finally this week they have come into their own. It is as if they are trying to say, “Ha, we are giving you a burst of beauty just before frost so you will be sure to plant us again next year.”

I think geraniums are a lesson for life. We spend a lot of time getting ready in order to do some blooming. The autumn equinox is a good reminder of the balance between light and dark, north and south, preparation and result.

Today is a great day to get perspective on things and to shift in our own balance as to what is important and what can rest. As we celebrate the bounty of the summer’s produce this is a great time to write a Gratitude List. (I am grateful for my geraniums, by the way.) This time of year is a great time to honour the beauty of the earth – the sights (think orange leaves and bronze hillsides), the sounds (thing crickets and wild geese), the smells (think turned soil and wood smoke), the tastes (crisp apples and baked squash), the feel (shrugging into a fleece, crunching leaves underfoot). It is a day, a season to set aside Covid wariness and exult in the beauty that abounds all around us.

Autumn Blessings to you!