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“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” That’s one of my favorite sentences in one of my favorite books, The Great Gatsby. It evokes the essence of my favorite season, autumn.

It may seem counterintuitive to suggest that fall, not spring, is the harbinger of renewal and rebirth. But it makes sense to me.

There’s something about the bracing air and the vibrant colors that brings my soul to life. The extreme heat and encroaching growth of our long Southern summers can become oppressive. John Donne wrote: “No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace/ As I have seen in one autumnal face.” Autumn cleanses the palate.

Although it’s still hot for a good two months when we start the new school year here, beginning afresh always feels promising, whereas the long push toward May through all the assessments in the spring can be exhausting. In the fall, teachers and students have had a long break to refresh and recreate, and they’re brimming with “new year’s resolutions.”

Also, the holidays in autumn are the absolute best. Halloween is fun, Thanksgiving warms the soul, and the Christmas season shines and inspires. Life starts all over again when you take the time to count your blessings and embrace a spirit of giving.

After a long, fraught election season, I’m more than ready to turn my thoughts to what I’m thankful for. That would include family, friends, health, and a comfortable life, of course. Beyond those, what I’m really learning to treasure are true compassion and kindness when I see them in other people, because I was beginning to be depressed about the selfishness and meanness that seem all too prevalent. Empathy and caring must conquer the vituperative and scornful rhetoric of the recent past, and I must play my part. I can cling to the principles I hold dear and continue to try to make a positive difference in the world and hope to produce a healthy, bountiful harvest.

The bright blue skies, cooler air, and fiery colors of fall do something to give me hope. My step quickens and my energy rebounds. I’m inspired to “stay gold.”

That last phrase comes from the classic young adult novel The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton.  It references the poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost, where he says, “Nature’s first green is gold,/ Her hardest hue to hold,” another snippet that alludes to fall being the freshest of the seasons. The ultimate message of the poem, however, is that innocence doesn’t last. 

The protagonist of the story, Ponyboy Curtis, likes the poem and recites it to his Greaser friend Johnny Cade. Later, Johnny tells Ponyboy, whom he wants to rescue from hoodlum life, to “Stay gold,” or, to hold on to his youthful innocence.

In Anne of Green Gables, author Lucy Maud Montgomery writes, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” Same here. And Novembers, and Decembers. The three best months of the year, as far as I’m concerned. 

Planting seeds in the spring is essential, but the autumn reaping is where the rewards are and where the crops are preserved for the tougher, colder months ahead. So soak up this shining, blessed time of year, and stash away enough nourishment to “stay gold” until it comes around again.