You do not need me to describe the brilliance of autumn color for you. You either have been humming its sweet, lingering October song every day, or have been splashed involuntarily by your color-infused Facebook feeds.

Like me, perhaps, you also have been asked several times of your favorite season. It is a simple question; yet, I have often found it hard to answer with honesty. You see, it’s so easy to praise the beauty of spring; she is colorful, flirty, and exciting, and offers affirmative, vibrant simplicity, even though my love for autumn runs so much deeper. I have reservation to confess my love for autumn because I have always found her effect depressing; I worry about her transit glory and fear for the emptiness to follow. I mourn the coming loss while eyeing her colorful feast, sadden often for what would be no more.  This emotion was augmented today when I walked into the woods, after saying goodbye to my son at the airport. I ached while being enveloped, body and soul, in a beautiful tranquility, and soon became frustrated with my own foolishness. So, I came home, turn on the computer, and search….

I search for positive ways to appreciate the colors I long to love, through wiser people’s eyes and words.

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower."         –Albert Camus

 “I hope I can be the autumn leaf, who looked at the sky and lived. And when it was time to leave, gracefully it knew life was a gift.”               –Dodinsky

我想秋色的美好是不需要我來解說的。從10月間,金黃和火紅是躲不開的燦爛,每天不停,像綿綿的秋歌,或跟著你上路,或強迫式的爬滿你臉書的牆面。秋天和你,是怎麼樣的情緒糾結?

不知道被問過多少回:最喜歡的季節是哪一季? 這聽起來像是很簡單的問題,但是誠實的回答,對我來說是一個徘迴於春與秋間的挣扎。春天是一個容易喜愛的季節: 春天有繽紛、刺激的色彩,有撩人的風姿, 興奮、簡單的生命力。 但是,我知道我更愛秋天層層疊疊的吸引力,但是秋天在我心頭上,總拖拉著沮喪的情緒。置身在極美的秋色中,我老擔心她的短暫,或想像著不久後空晃的樹枝,滿溢中看見失落。

今天在感恩節後,送兒子去機場,回家的路上,我繞進樹林裡走了一回,秋天的尾巴,有殘色,有落葉,失落的感覺更是特別強烈。步行間,淚欲垂,忽有自覺愚蠢至極的開通,回家便上網搜尋智者之語,來開啟我怎麼放心、正向的愛這秋天的色彩:

“秋天是第二個春天  當每一葉變成花朵” –Albert Camus

“我希望我能像秋天的葉子,仰望天空而活, 在感激生命中離去”-Dodinsky