Autumn is an amazing time of year. It has a negative connotation in most circles, and I think that it is unfair. Look at movies... The Village, One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, and Garden State are all great examples of strong autumnal usage.  They all are stories that take place almost exclusively in autumn; it solidifies the dramatically sinister and depressing moods that directors want audiences to feel.  Literature too, even more famously uses autumn as a time of death, the end, stripping down, breaking down, depression, and melancholy. Jane Austen used seasons masterfully in her writing, and autumn typically came at the most sad, desolate time in the characters journey through life, love, and/ or adventure.  It works as a literary device, seething ominous, threatening, and disturbing vibes, but isn't autumn also about finding warmth, preparing for the winter by gathering those you love near and sharing in the harvest?

I love autumn, I think of it as a time of preparation, a time to hunker down and get ready for winter.  It's a time of hot apple cider and pumpkin pie. Autumn is a time to pull out the cotton flannel sheets and down comforters; pick and carve pumpkins, wear sweaters and wooly socks; go Christmas shopping and make a Turkey; cook, bake, celebrate and enjoy the harvest with loved ones. No, autumn is not a sad or desolate time in my journey, it is a time of year charged with the energy of gathering, of change, and a time of (searching for) warmth.