Seasonal Transitions: Connecting Nature & Culture

The Return of Fall and the Winter Stars

In recent weeks, I’ve become particularly fascinated in recognizing an assortment of connections occurring among natural and cultural events. A few weekends ago, the autumnal equinox came, bringing with it a distinct clarity of changes within the seasons. With day and night balanced, it brought a clear shift of perspective in my personal experience. It’s been a fascinating experience to recognize this shift not only in the alpine vegetation and cooled feel of the air, but in the night time sky, the Jewish high holidays, and first snows that bring anticipation of another winter of skiing. It’s a time of year for deep personal reflection.

In the latter weeks of September, on a Monday, I had hiked into the Latir Wilderness (east of Questa, northeast of Taos) with Kristel and her Roots & Wings Community School group of trekking 5^th & 6^th grade kids. The late summer sun hung in the sky, bringing with it warm breezes through the lakeside valley. Aspen leaves remained a fading lime rind-green. The following Friday, the day of the equinox, as the trekkers returned from their journey, I met up with them at the trailhead. Throughout the northern region of the state, the sun remained warm and shining bright, but the aspen leaves had begun their transition towards bright dandelion-yellow and burnt citrus-orange, contrasting against the dark green backdrop of spruce and fir. The return of the trekking crew had ushered in the new season, each child changed by the challenging experience of backpacking.

That night, as Kristel and I laid in bed, I tossed and turned with an extra sense of energy, thoughts buzzing through my head. Midnight passed and I couldn’t sleep. By 2am, I got up and walked into the bathroom to gaze out of the window and sniff the fresh, cool night air. Looking into the east-northeastern sky, there they hung – the triplet stars of Orion’s belt, the cluster of the Pleiades, and the sideways V of Taurus’ horns. A shiver went through my body, recognizing that the winter stars had returned to the night sky from a summer spent in the daytime sky, to make their journeys through the colder seasons. It was as if the night sky was calling to show its own changes in the season, connecting the return of the winter constellations with the equinox. It’s fascinating to me to realize that, just as the leaves of the deciduous trees change, waterfowl migrate, and the air begins to cool, the stars themselves shift in their positions in the sky, connecting the seasons together. The winter stars also bring with them memories of wondrous experiences from earlier years and a sacred mindset every time I see them. In another blog post, I’ll reflect on personal connections to the stars and the cosmos.

Fall can sometimes be given a bad rap. While spring is most often seen as the season of renewed life, fall seems most often to be seen as a dreary reminder of cold months ahead. Yet, this season offers its own sense of renewal and change. Fall is a time for reflection and continued activity and with the change from the summer months comes a new awakening. Local schools are deeper into their sessions, offering new opportunities for thoughtful learning (in the alternative programs anyway), trees offer assorted colors pleasing to the eye, the cool air makes rigorous activity such as hiking more comfortable, the crops of the local gardens are harvested and bring an abundance of fresh produce, and occasional snows offer excited anticipation of another ski season around the corner. 

Yes, the warm, comfortable days of summer will be missed. But, as the weeks have rolled on, each day of fall has brought a new and unique experience. One day, the leaves of the aspens here in northern New Mexico shine with ever more brilliant shades of dayglow-green & yellow, illumined in the sun. The next, gorgeous sunny days shift to billowing winds, grayed skies, damp rains, and snow dustings on the mountain peaks. As the skies have cleared in the night, the waxing moonlight shines out over the high desert, the summer constellations begin their westward retreat for the white months, and Orion’s belt dangles earlier and earlier above the eastern horizon. 

Fall has returned. Let’s embrace the experience and the lessons the season has to share.

What are some of your favorite memories of fall? What inspires you this time of year? Please feel free to share your thoughts.