Ah, Autumn! Gravestone Rubbings!

Oh, Autumn! My very favorite season. I love the crisp air, the crunch of brown leaves underfoot, the need to keep a light shawl handy as one is running errands, the wee creatures scurrying about, collecting their acorns for the long winter (and if the number of them falling from my oak tree is any indicator, it’s going to be a cold, snowy one!) and I love the fuss and fun of Halloween!

I love the howling winds, particularly in late October, when they remind us of the holy souls we’ll remember in November. I love the shortened days and longer nights; all that darkness promises the advent of Advent, and the Light that is not overcome!

Today I drove around–because I like driving in the rain–until I found a good graveyard, because autumn and cemeteries seem to go together. I like to pack a lunch, stroll an old graveyard, rest on a cobwebby bench and take rubbings of what looks interesting.

Some nuts and crusts of bread were in my pack for the chipmunks and the squirrels, and the red-winged black birds and chattering sparrows. I may be a Benedictine, now, but I was a Franciscan, first.

I used to take my kids to graveyards when they were very small and wanted to explore and feel a little free of Mommy. Safest place in the world if there are no open graves, and there were always great leaves to collect, too!

It’s an October thing.

Meanwhile, Mary DeTurris Poust celebrates autumn by taking some lovely pictures of acorns and late-blooming flowers. Apparently her oak trees are dropping a lot of acorns, too!

Prepare for a coooold winter, brrrrrr.

I don’t like winter half so much as autumn, and October always goes too fast!