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A Poem and a Latte Help, I Guess.

 It’s already happening. I couldn’t wear shorts on my run this morning and had to pull out the long-sleeved t-shirts as well  Next thing you know ~ probably tomorrow morning by the looks of it ~ I’ll be wearing mittens on my morning runs.  Mitten day is always a sad day, because it ominously marks the beginning of what is really almost 9 months of winter in my opinion.

While working on her algebra this morning, Kayla complained of being cold.  Though I felt her pain, I had to tell her to get a blanket and put on some socks and a hoodie, because we are certainly not turning on the heat mid-September.

Oh, I love fall and colorful foliage and pumpkins and fire pit gatherings, but if my fellow New Englanders are honest at all, they will admit that summer really only started two weeks ago.  I was wearing my hoodie on the beach in August remember?  It’s just not fair.  Why does summer have to be the shortest season of all?

I spent all last week learning about “natural revelation” or “general revelation” which is regarding how God reveals Himself in nature and its beauty, seasons, and patterns.  That the fall season arrives every year without fail is understood to be a witness to the covenant faithfulness of God. That the sun “rises” every morning a sign of His goodness, His provision.

“If this fixed order departs from before Me, declares the Lord, Then the offspring of Israel also will cease from being a nation before Me forever.”
Jeremiah 31:36

“Thus says the Lord, “If you can break my covenant for the day and My covenant for the night, so that day and night will not be at their appointed time, then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant so that he will not have a son to reign on his throne…”
Jeremiah 33:20

I suppose I should be worshiping when I have to put on extra layers, but I am whining instead.
I received a letter from Lars last week in which he described a tree just outside their picture window and overlooking the Cape Ann Atlantic. Apparently this tree, with its reliable-weather-predicting abilities via its early or late leaf-turning, has declared with undeniable evidence that we’re in for a very long and harsh winter. Evidently, the tree has never been wrong.  I really hope it’s a fluke this year.
One person in my house is giddy over the change in season, though.  It’s the same person who needed to bundle up to do her algebra.  In her excitement and celebration of all things fall, she typed a poem about it. (She’s aware of her misspellings and mistakes, and didn’t want me to post it in this form, but I just love the typed words on her “typewriter” paper.)
When she wasn’t writing poetry, she was researching recipes for dairy free “pumpkin spice lattes” (her doctor asked her to eliminate lactose for a while), and spending time in the kitchen creating them. She shared the final product with me while I studied.  It was almost “paleo” but contained quite a bit of sugar.  This one is made with coconut milk (she actually used coconut cream!) and real pumpkin.  We even own a little hand held “frother” now, so our homemade drinks can look and taste extra official.  It was super-yummy, and I’ll request honey to sweeten next time!
There really are so many things to love about fall, and I am thankful to live in a part of the country famous for its autumn majesty, but today I am grieving the end of the short-lived days of warmth.  And if the predictions are correct, (because Lars’ tree isn’t the only one) I’m also grieving the impending harshness of the coming winter.
Good bye summer. See you next August. Maybe.