Ah, the autumnal equinox!  Although in our modern age, a time when we do not go outside as much as our ancestors did, a time in which we do not always take a few moments to glance up at the sky--because we spend more of our time indoors--the autumnal equinox is still worth pondering.  It tells us of harvest, of surplus, of halcyon past and  brumal future to come.  In autumn's change is the renewing spring.
     When I looked at Orion this morning, the three stars of his belt shining brightly amid the nearly moonless night, I thought about the legend that surrounds him.  As the story is told, Orion was a mighty hunter who offended Artemis, the goddess of the moon, by shooting one of her sacred stags.  She sent a scorpion after him.  Despite Orion's best efforts, the scorpion eventually bit him.  He died quickly, earth bound no more.
     Today, Orion walks with the stars.  His massive figure dominates the winter sky. There's a bit of Orion in all of us, rippling through our minds and hearts as we roam the planet.  We seek adventure, we seek insight, some of us seek glory.  We tangle with existence, we struggle with God.  But we keep going, passing through our life's summer, autumn, then, one day, its winter, in which all things come to rest.  We expect, we anticipate, we plan, we conquer.  Yet as autumn whispers of winter to come, so we whisper about winters of our own.  Eternity awaits.
     I hope we all grow to love the falling snow.