and the gentle breezes of summer ebb, leaving crisp cool air in their wake.
Snow now kisses the mountains, and the land slumbers, dreaming
of the joys of summers past and springs to come.
The air is still but for the joyous laughter of the red-cheeked children at play and
the accompanying songs of the chickadees.
And we watch the scenes unfold from the warmth of our homes, smiling, drawing our
families closer to keep the chill away.
We give thanks for the blessings of home and hearth and doze with the land,
letting the quiet contentment of the season hold us like the gentle embrace
of a lover after the passion has ebbed.
It is a time of quiet reflection, a time of contentment, of pledges of friendships
and renewal of commitments.
It is the end of what was and the beginning of what will be.
And the peace of existence enters the heart and quiets the mind.
And winter finds its place in the souls of men.
