Welcoming Autumn

We totally and completely missed the Autumnal equinox last year. We were still living in Austin, Texas, snuggling in a new baby while simultaneously up to our elbows in moving boxes as we geared up for our move to the Midwest. It was sweltering hot then, and Autumn just never occurred to any of us.

Fast forward one year, and it's chilly out. The leaves are turning rainbow hues and dropping all around us. Slowly, but surely, one by one. We've been collecting them on our walks and noticing the quiet but steady drift into Autumn. We're singing lovely songs like "The Leaves are Green," and "Yellow the Bracken," rejoicing in all the crisp apples and fresh winter squash, and harvesting the last of our own summer garden. Drying and freezing and packing it all away for the cooler months.

It's a busy time, Autumn is. We snuck in a small harvest celebration to welcome the turning of the season. A few stories around the lantern*, warm food, and a familiar old song, "My Roots Go Down," one that we learned with some friends in Texas. It was our small way of honoring the good times we spent there and marking our journey here. This weekend it will be one year since our move, and Einstein is already applying for jobs for next Fall when his research grant expires. We're doggedly trying to put down our roots... to feel solid in the earth, even if we have to pull them back up again.

"My Roots Go Down" - by Sarah Pirtle

Chorus:
My roots go down, down to the earth.
My roots go down, down to the earth.
My roots go down, down to the earth.
My roots go down.

Every verse is different, made up on the spot. You sing a line, repeat it twice, and end it with "My roots go down." Then follow with the chorus.

The girls LOVED making up their own verses:

I am a dogwood shimmering in the starlight.

I am a climbing tree letting someone climb.

And our roots go down...

*We were inspired to make our own leaf lantern by our dear friend Aleisha. Not only did she turn us on to the wonderful book Exploring the Forest with Grandforest Tree, she's got a beautiful Autumn lantern up on her site as well. She's just full of cool ideas.