Solstice was a few days ago and we are now fully in the season of autumn! I can taste it in the air and see it in the colors of the trees. The neighborhood is quieter as the kids are back in school. Change is slow and comes in fits and starts. Some days are still hot, but other days have a bite in the air. It’s a transitional season, a shoulder season, a shift from the heat of summer to the chill of winter.
I love living in a place with seasons. It reminds me to slow down and listen to the wisdom of change. The leaves are telling us that fall is an end to things – they are literally dying. Paradoxically, an end is also a beginning. As I watch the leaves change color, I ask myself, what do I need to let go of to make way for something new to begin?
It’s my favorite time of year for bonfires, an activity that lends itself to self-reflection. The color of the flames mirror the changing season and I see myself somewhere within the flickering oranges and yellows, licking upward to taste new air. I get lost in the flames, thinking about what I’ve learned about myself in this past year and how this knowledge will support new beginnings for me.
This introspection has led me to think about Michael Dennis Browne’s poem, “Fire,” which I had the privilege of recently setting for CorVoce (Karin Barrett, Artistic Director).
Michael’s poem takes me immediately to my memories, as both a child and a parent, of sitting around campfires, talking until the embers grew small and we grew tired.
While working with the poem, I could feel an ever-so-slight chill in the air and the warmth of the fire on my body, as I watched the people I love talking and laughing together. I was there again, in the timelessness of starry evenings.
This new piece embodies the warmth and expansiveness of campfires and late-summer evenings, while also capturing the intimacy of these moments in our memories. The ending, in which we are taken out of our dreaming back into the present, is especially sweet as I remember each individual child in the circle, during one magical summer.
Visit https://catherinedalton.net/catalog/summer-still-on-earth/ to enjoy a recording of “Summer Still on Earth,” performed by CorVoce Chamber Choir, conducted by Karin Barrett, Artistic Director. You can buy copies there, too, for your school, church, community, or professional choirs.
What are you letting go of this fall to make room for something new?
What is something that grounds you as you contemplate change in your life?
What are your favorite fall activities?
Photo Credit: Erika Rae