Welcome to October

            Welcome to October. This is the month in which we glory in lovely weather – and become way to busy. The air is cooler and drier than it has been for months, and we enthusiastically jump into chores that we put off when it was to hot and humid to move. Every organization schedules  their annual fest this month so our calendars are covered with a dizzying  array of things to do and places to go. We do hope you will make time to just pause from the busyness to admire the blue sky, autumn flowers, and breath in the cool fresh air.                                                               I have spent some time recently wandering the fields filled mostly with blooming asters and goldenrod and other wildflowers. It has been a pleasure to just stand and watch  the life and beauty around me; to admire the subtlety of the asters' whites, lavenders and purples, to marvel at the intricacy of the opening pod of the milkweed, to inhale the honey-like aroma of the goldenrod. Here and there the deep purple of the pokeweed hangs down, tempting a hungry bird to enjoy a juicy feast. Over most of the blossoms of every sort are honey bees, nuzzled down gathering pollen to carry back to the hive to create their own miracle of honey. Occasionally, a monarch butterfly drifts past, pausing here and there to pollinate and poke its long tongue deep into a sweet blossom before moving on its awesome sojourn to the south.                                                                                                                                           All of these musings lead to the Creator. Who can stand before Someone who can make a wildflower – its roots to gather food, its stems to carry nutrition, its leaves to drink in the rain, its blossoms to feed bees, birds, butterflys and multiple insects? All this while giving us humans the visual treat of their bright colors. And the seeds to make it possible to do it all over again. Who else can create seeds where some catch the wind, some stick to our clothes or animal fur, some explode, some delicious and are eaten and expelled – all to allow for reproduction far from their origin. Who else could create such a well tuned orchestra of harmonious activity as a field of living creatures, each with a part in the whole symphony?                                                                                                                     And you think this is amazing? Has anyone delved into the biology, chemistry or physics of the human being? We knell in humble praise and gratitude to such a Creator as our God.                                                                                                                                                                                                         Virginia