Changing of the Season

Watching the changing seasons is like watching the changing of the guard. It started out so gradually I was amazed to wake up to dark clouds and persistent rain. It has been hitting the area hard with a reminder that summer has been gone for a month and soon this lovely autumn will give way to winter.
The wind has been playing a tune on the wind chime; swinging it back and forth to play a fine tune and using all its chords. This is a delightful sound as rarely does the wind sweep past it in such a way, hitting all of the notes that intrigued me at the store enough to buy it!
Many of the trees that curtain our back yard lost their leaves today; the leaves are lying on the grass now; shiny, wet and ready for the rake to pile them onto the garden to make compost for the soil next spring. The branches are exposed, giving us eyes to our neighbors once more. How much has changed since the leaves were new. I can see a puppy at one house, a new slide for another; incidentals that have enriched the lives of the families on the other sides of our fence. From their kitchens they can see changes we’ve made to our back yard too.
Soon enough the snow will fall again and cover all the bare branches. As I think of the days ahead, I must remind myself to enjoy each day as it comes, wet, dry, sunny or cold. I want to find the beauty in each day as it unfolds its gifts. Today, the wind chime song, tomorrow something new will surprise me. For now, I think I will brew a cup of tea and listen intently to the music on this night.