The Homecoming for Starts

For Anna

Fall is, indeed, the homecoming for starts. It is the beginning of fall, the initiation of football, the start of the school year, the kickoff to autumn, the prelude to a wonder of good smells, and the time of year that begins a myriad of holidays. It presents the moment when we first think about breaking out that sweater we love so much that fits perfectly around our waist and makes us feel so warm or that sensational coffee drink that we only permit ourselves to indulge in one time of year. It is a period of joy: the air is crisp and the leaves are so pretty that we do not worry about anything else because the hope of what's to come is just around the corner.

Fall is, in one word, refreshing. It fills us with hopes and dreams of becoming better, of trying new things, of accomplishing goals, and becoming people we aspire to be. Why? Because it is much like the start of the new year, except it's not the start of a new year. It's actually, as we know, the beginning of the close to a year. I think the beginning of a new year is just a date--it really has no relevance to the timing of when we begin something new. Rather, fall holds the joys of new births.

Fall is a time when most people choose to mark their start of a new life together (I know of 5 people, right off the top of my head, who got married, or are getting married, in October). January is smack in the middle of winter. It's a dead month, a dreary month, a gray month. What if we made fall our start of new beginnings, instead?

Fall is my inspiration to dream big. It's my inspiration to be better, do better, and live better. It's marked with sweetness and color-coated events with bright lights that drive our souls to discovery. It's marked with simplicity and captivating sensations that sweep us off the floor and into the cool, breath of the night. For some reason, fall is the beginning of most things new. The calendar doesn't say so, but our hearts do--they pine for family gatherings, unplanned rendezvous, rich conversations on back porches, congratulations letters for making the team, first dances on the basketball floor, first kisses on the football stadium bleachers, first I love you's, first roommates in college, first time away from parents, first child going off to his first day of school, first real homework assignment, first A.

Take the word fall, for example. It means, "to happen or occur as if falling on something and enveloping in it; to begin to be in, or enter into, a specified state or condition; to begin doing something vigorously." All these definitions suggest embracement, beginnings, and starts.

Fall is embracement. It's embracing what lies ahead, what is to come, and what will be. It brings closeness, warmth, and love more than any other time of year. It is time to embrace today, now.