Geese

The skies have been overcast and "threatening" for days, though since the rains of my last posting, there have been no storms. There's a chill breeze coming from the north that's convinced the leaves to start their final, glorious transformation. The quiet hush of Autumn is upon us finally.

Late this afternoon, as I was coming out of a local shop, I glanced skyward. Above me, in perfect formation, there was a "V" of geese flying south. Silhouetted against the varigated-grey sky, they were a black arrow pointing the way of the departing season. There was no sound (they were too high and too focused on their flight from the cold to the promise of warmth to call out) and no other bird in the air. Just the silent progression of this group on their annual pilgrimmage to their nesting grounds.

The silence of this season--the quiet preparations for the upcoming new year, the introspection as we take account of where we "were" and where we are wanting to go, the very season which is both beginning and ending--is sometimes deafening. We're encouraged to "reflect on the deeds of the past and prepare for the year to come" in hushed meditation.

If we quietly go about our preparations, we open to the sounds of the season...the hushed whisper of wing-flaps, the dry rustle of leaves as neighborhood children jump and giggle, the embracing crackle of a log fire on a chill evening. She grants us Her wisdom through these fleeting moments of peaceful reflection. All we have to be is silent and open to Her teachings.

All we have to do is follow the geese in the grey sky while a bracing breeze blows around us...

In the calm of the waning Moonlight...