Crystal Blue

That's what I call days like the one we had yesterday. It's what makes Michigan in October the best place in the world to be. I know, Wisconsin and Ohio and the other northern states are probably beautiful this time of year, too, but they don't have one thing Michigan has--me.

It sounds like I'm a little full of myself, but that's not the case. You see, a place is only a chunk of geography until it's painted over with the years and events of our own lives. I'm sure, that if I dropped into Colorado in the midst of autumn, I'd be stunned with its beauty, but I'd know it wasn't mine. Somehow, the dry leaves of Minnesota wouldn't smell quite the same as the dry leaves of my Michigan. The sky wouldn't be quite the same shade of blue, a blue so deep that it hurts to look at it. The pitch of the geese would be slightly off. The cacophony of Starling chatter from the oak trees wouldn't have quite the same intensity.

Each year I vow to embrace the fall. This weekend I think I did a pretty good job of that. From yellow-jacket cider mills to an afternoon on my deck, watching the sky, listening to the starlings, and smelling the sweet scent of changing leaves. All of this combined with the knowledge that God has given me this as a mere shadow of what awaits us in eternity. That must be what makes Heaven different. To all of us, it will be home. There will be no strangers. The sky will be our perfect shade of blue.

I see four letter word starting with "S" in our forecast for later this week. It will surely not accumulate, but it's always a reminder that we have only a short while to breathe in all that is Michigan in October.

Wherever you call home, embrace the fall.