The Beginning of Decline

That is one of the uses of the word "autumn".  It has begun here in south Puget Sound.  Wet and wind prevail.  Spiders spin their webs.  Yesterday a farmer out the road plowed his corn field to make room for pumpkin patch parking.  My friend who works in a lighting store says light bulb sales pick up as the soggy sky darkens.  Our fall is cozy inside a well insulated house near a well stocked grocery store.  I think of the beginning of decline of sun, warmth and harvest in a world lit only by fire. The winter solstice will mark the next beginning - a return of hope for another year.  The people of prehistory worshiped the force that drove the seasons through their cycle.  Understandably.  Their monuments astound to this day.  We just worry that the power might go out in the next big storm.