How was the weather where you’re at yesterday? It was St. Matthew’s Day, a traditional weather marker:
Matthew’s Day, bright and clear
Brings good wine in the next year.
St. Matthew’s Day comes with or near the autumnal equinox each year, and this year, that moment of balance arrives tonight on the 22nd of September: Here in Lake Worth, which is currently in Eastern Daylight Time, we enter autumn at 9:54 PM. With it, day and night are in balance, and the sun, for a few days now and a few to come, is pretty much rising due east and setting due west. But after this, the days in the Northern Hemisphere will be shorter than the nights.
With our planet in balance, it would seem a good time to seek balance in our own lives, as well. Whatever that means for you, this is what I wish you. For me, I know it means balancing the time I give away with the time I need myself so that all the things that are important to me receive their fair share and that I take the time to enjoy the things of this world––especially in the season I call my favorite, filled as it is with the beauty and abundance of gifts from the earth. And so, a good autumn to us all.
Image: “Park in Autumn“ by Michał Gortskin-Wywíorski. Oil on canvas, circa 1900 [Public domain] via Wikimedia Commons.
John, Yes, the parceling of time. And the equinox sneaking up on me like it has makes me realize that I have not been wise. We moved to a new house, and I need to have my new studio built soon. The last six weeks have had so much rain, it has been impossible to dig four-foot deep trenches to fill with concrete footings. It’s the building code here in Iowa, where deep winter freezes will heave up buildings, crack the floors and walls. It must be done. My contractor is ready to get the project going, but is stymied (strange name for a type face, eh?)
I’ve stripped my print shop’s equipment down to half for the new shop. It’s a relief.
Today we leave in an hour to drive to Omaha for a wedding. I am sure that farmer’s will be in the fields harvesting corn and soy beans. The patterns of the bare areas that have been reduced to stalk rubble are fascinating to observe, especially in the late afternoon when the low sun delineates and accentuates them.
I’ve enjoyed your observations of the seasons this year, John. Your mention of wine hits home. Iowa now has over a hundred wineries, something farmers of forty years ago never would have believed. Let the celebration begin!
John
Hey John, I’ve often thought the same about Stymie, the type face, which I was not fond of in earlier days but which I’ve grown to like as I get older––and maybe because so many of my own plans have gotten stymied along the way by life’s happenings. So will your project be ok as long as you have those concrete pilings in before winter? Will you have to wait until spring if you don’t?
I had no idea about Iowa wine! I’ll be on the watch for it and give it a try. There is a winery here near Miami, but the wines are all from fruits like mangoes and carambola, and none of it has the dreamy complexity of the grape.
I wish you the best with your print shop, John. All things in their time. As long as you continue to be fascinated by the patterns of the stalk stubble, I think your plans are safe.
In a seasonal shift that for me usually mostly marks the return of allergies and pumpkin spice lattes, your post is an important reminder to find more peace and balance in my days than what can attained by sticking my whole entire face in a vat of Starbucks syrup (not to speak poorly of the simple pleasures in life.) Thank you for a great post.
Today, a poem came through on a mailing list to which I subscribe that reminded me strongly of this post: “Consejo para el Equinoccio Otoñal” by Rafael Jesús González, or in English, “Advice for The Fall Equinox”, translated by the author. If you get a chance, I hope you’ll be able to look it up — it’s all about balance in the changing of the seasons.
Camden, thank you. I looked your suggestion up and came directly to the poet’s blog. Here’s the poem, in Spanish and in English, for anyone who cares to read it, too: http://rjgonzalez.blogspot.com/2018/09/autumnal-equinox.html. It’s quite lovely.