Green is a color that is not so abundant this month. It’s largely being overthrown by stronger shades of red, purple, yellows, and orange. All these colors come in such a vibrant display that allows green to take a grand back seat to Fall. The time of harvest, the time of change, the time to “winter up” so that we can start hibernating in our shells for another spell of the holidays. Are we ready?

Are we ready to forget the beauty or the bounty of Fall? We all are preparing for a hard fiscal winter. One we, as a country, have not seen in years. People are closing up their pocketbooks and opening up their hearts, or something like that. Do we as a overconsumable society understand what that means? I’m slightly overly hopeful that we do. I hope upon hope that we remember what is the meaning of filling our homes with family and friends. That we put aside our credit cards for the next version of the Wii, and use our imaginations for gift giving. That we give from our hearts and not from the tailgating, fist fighting, earlybird specials of Black Friday. It’s not about what’s under the tree, but it’s who we have in our lives. I’m hopeful that we can take stock of the people that walk in and out of our day to day lives and truly wish them well.

I like to remain in the mindset of the optimist. So, try and stay away from the stock reports and fiscal reviews. Or how many gift cards went out of the grand superstores. I want to capture the essence of Fall. The kids laughing over which pumpkin their gonna carve or what their going to dress up on Halloween night. I want to gather up leaves and press their beautiful colors together to create a painting for all to see.  I want to bottle up the smell of brisk, clean air and immerse it into bath oils or soaps. It seems to me that Fall is a time to harvest and Winter is a time for giving. So why not harvest the bounty and then give what you have you recieved?

Take time for the little things. The pockets of forest is quickly diminishing into condo lots or duplexes. Our colorful fall is going into deforestation. Our brisk air is filling with gas filled cars. In order to bring the bad news to a halt, the little things will keep us going. Not how much we can’t afford, but how much we can notice that goes by us during our fast paced daily lives. Our journeys are our own, the fun part is how we share them with others. Use your imaginations, your won’t be sorry.