okay, autumn, you finally broke me

I have resisted the charms of this season for years.

Sure, the leaves are pretty – but I haven’t fallen for it!

Its beauty is deceptive, after all.

The changing colors might create a spectacular scene, but they are, in reality, a sign of death.

The brilliant colors soon disappear into a pile of crunchy brown leaves on the ground, the branches left empty and bare to withstand the long, cold winter alone.

Yes, winter inevitably follows autumn, and the feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach has always prevented me from enjoying this season.

Until now.

This year, autumn has been so purely magical that I can no longer ignore it.

The days have been brilliantly clear and crisp, and yes, the colors breathtaking. And the dancing leaves flittering through the air make me giddy.

Even the rainy days have been beautiful. Last week we were driving through the woods in a rainstorm, but it was one of those occasions when the sky is thundering and fiercely dark directly above, but all around are cracks in the clouds so the sunlight sparkles brilliantly through the raindrops. Then as we came to a clearing out of the trees, we saw the full arc of an enormous rainbow.

Whenever I see a rainbow I feel like God has created it solely to tell me how much he loves me.

And then last week we went for a walk in our favorite place, and we made an amazing discovery.

Waterfalls are beautiful anytime, but they are simply magnificent when you stumble upon them unexpectedly.

We have never seen water in this area since we started coming here four years ago.

And now it’s full of whitewater rapids.

For some reason the park people decided to redirect the river, and in the process they created one of the most scenic waterfalls I’ve seen.

I was so frustrated trying to capture it with my camera, and failing.

And now the previous river is dry and perfect for exploring!

A massive tree fell over in the hurricane.

It’s a kids’ paradise.

So there you have it. Autumn has captured my heart at last.