{Confession} I don’t like fall
Don’t freak out…
I don’t like fall.
The way the whole world goes crazy for beanies and cable-knit sweaters and hot chocolate and picking apples…
Nope. Not for me.
Sure, I see the appeal of COZY. And maybe if I lived in a place that had an autumn like that, I’d enjoy the change from summer to winter.
Here in my corner of Arizona, we have a lot of elm trees. Elms don’t change colors. MAYBE a few leaves turning yellow. Nope, elms wait until the first frost, turn brown, and drop all their leaves.
Fall means stickers in my socks as all the grassy, prickly things die back and desperately try to spread their seeds before our short summer rainy season.
Apples were harvested in early September.
And I dislike bulky sweaters, I don’t wear slouchy boots, and beanies – while I do love hats of all types – squish my hair.
But the thing I dislike the most about the change of season is the way the nights get longer. I finally realized, it’s not that the DAYS get shorter… it’s that the nights get LONGER.
Why does this bug me?
Simply put:
I’m afraid of the dark.
Yep, I’ve never really outgrown it!
A few evenings ago, while I was lamenting the fact that longer nights ALSO means more time inside and trying to do things (paint) under artificial light, God put an interesting message in my heart:
The healing darkness.
It honestly surprised me. I’ve never thought as darkness as healing. Sleep, for sure…