A season of transformation

Fog adorns the trees at Faulkner Park in Woodstock, Vermont, on Thanksgiving morning. (Gareth Henderson Photo)

As the holiday wraps up and the weekend comes into view, nature enhances the majestic calm of late autumn, as the land gracefully yields to changes and embraces a new season.

Fog settled in early Thanksgiving morning throughout southern Vermont as light rains visited the area. At Faulkner Park in Woodstock, a beautiful calm embraced the land along with the fog, which adorned the treetops as some drizzle fell to the ground. Fallen leaves surrounding the trees left another sign we're heading into the colder months quickly, but still have a little time to observe some snowless land as autumn heads toward its final weeks.

For me, the calm, reflective silence of the fall expresses its greatest beauty. Today, this season invites us to ponder the past year and what it's meant to us, to cherish lessons learned and open up to new ones. Autumn is as transitional as it is transformative — it moves us gradually into winter, when the earth spends months of cold to prepare for the newness of spring. Similarly, times of reflection can point us toward progress, make us aware of opportunities and prepare us for greater things ahead. That path toward progress can appear when we least expect it. That's when life surprises us, but the opportunities to seize such moments are some of the greatest gifts we have.

— Gareth Henderson