Mums for Maturity

Spring is the time of rebirth, happiness, love, freshness and mating. Babies are born, bulbs pop out of the ground, and all shades of green and pink burst onto the landscape. Fall, on the other hand, is different and reminds one of death, destruction, coldness, and probably mating. Leaves continually fall off the trees, covering the green grass with constant reminders that it, too, will soon be gone. I am not a "fall" person, probably because fall colors include orange and gold, and I don't like orange and gold, I am a pink girl.

The air was cool today when I retrieved the two newspapers from the cold brick step, another reminder we are in for it -- coldness, dampness, trees empty of all life, eventual snow, shoveling, and a furnace that runs all the time. I dread it because I am a pink girl and pink is not an outdoor color of fall or winter. To prepare for what is ahead, all summer furniture has been put away, resting until next April. The teak furniture landed on the back porch, a somewhat cheerful reminder that spring will one day return, though not for a time. The screen porch holds the remaining chairs and tables of summer, perfect for placing winter decorations on to be viewed from the large family room windows.

To keep the season going as long as possible, mums were planted in shades of plum, purple, yellow and yes, even gold, though I don't like gold except in 24k jewelry. Gazing out toward the long circular drive, I see the mums, reminding me seasons change, but beauty continues.

Life is like that -- we continue to change each day as we evolve from the beauty of youth into the mature beauty that only comes with age. Changing seasons are but a reminder that the freshness of youth, like spring, can be replaced with wisdom, understanding and refined beauty, like the beauty of mums in the fall.