Fall. A time when nature is preparing for sleep is also the time of harvest. I never experience fall without being reminded of my youth, when we spent autumn picking apples and making cider at our apple farm.

Perhaps it is a lesson for life-that when life seems to be dying it is also preparing fruit. I for one prefer sunshine and mild weather. But I also know that apples cannot grow unless they have a certain amount of dormant days. Without that "rest" they simple cannot rejuvenate. And dormant days for apple orchards mean freezing temperatures.

Nature offers us so many lessons. That's why the stillness and quiet we find in nature can be very instructive for our heart seeking souls. If you would profit, take some time to reflect on its cycle. You might even take an apple and sit somewhere quiet, so that you can enjoy the brilliant colors of trees whose leaves are turning even before they depart.