Following Fall’s Lead

Saturday October 1, 2011
Sugar Bottom Campground
Coralville Lake COE Campground
North Liberty, Iowa

This is my first entry for October.
It’s been several days since I’ve posted
and there are several reasons for that.
Here’s the first one.

Today we went out for a paddle on the lake.
The sun was sparkling on the water.

It was a lovely fall afternoon.
Things are just beginning to change color here
in Iowa.

It’s been just over a week since Fall Equinox
which this year was Friday September 23rd

I always mark the four quarters of the sun’s yearly rounds. 
On Equinoxes (Mid March and Mid September)
day and night are equal in length.
But after the Fall Equinox darkness will be increasing,
taking over little by little
until the Winter Solstice in mid December.

 

Each day will be a little shorter,
each night a little longer until the longest night.
And then the circle begins again.

 

Fall is a beautiful time of year
as nature winds down and prepares for winter.
She turns the grasses,
the leaves, the trees and her flowers
beautiful shades of yellow, orange and red 
as they shed what is not necessary
in anticipation of the coming dark and cold.

Time to slow down she seems to be saying.
And every year I feel this.
Slow down.
Get ready for a nap.

But working in a university for years,
my pace actually had to speed up.
Fall was the beginning of the school year.
Everything was starting, not ending.
Those with children know just what I mean.

And then gear up even more,
get prepared for celebrating holidays.

But this year, I don’t have to do that.
I can follow nature’s lead and slow down.
And that’s what I did.

I spent a few hours on the water
and hardly went anywhere.

 

The sun was warm and cozy.
Although there were few boats on the lake,
I wanted to be out of and away
from the main stream.

I paddled slowly across the lake
and down two or three inlet coves.

Beside the rocky shores.

I paddled into a marshy wetland

and saw the last of the summer’s flowers
in the shallow waters

and this interesting flora on the rocky shore.

I sat and listened and watched.

I noticed the yellow trees reflected in the water.

The last of the flowers blooming.

I took a few pictures, paddled a few strokes.
But mostly I sat and drifted and looked.
I took it all in.

I watched for a long time a
very patient heron stalking his dinner.
Slow step by slow step through the weedy wetlands.
I didn’t want to interrupt his concentration or
my solitude so I didn’t take his picture.

And when the temperatures dropped to the
point where my hands were getting cold,
I took that as a signal to paddle back to the
shore and head back to the coach.

It was a wonderful afternoon and felt so much more
“right”
than the gearing up I had to do for so many years.
Hope you are able to follow nature’s lead
and that your fall is a relaxed and slow one too