New Year

I firmly believe that my Jewish sisters and brothers know something the rest of us don't.  Like when a new year begins, for instance.

For the first 18-25 years of our lives, a new year begins in September.  Close to Labor Day.  A new school year, a new year, a new chance to begin afresh.

But the calendar indicates that a new year begins in the middle of winter.  In January.  How unnatural is that.

I was reading a European quilter's blog the other day.  It was written in Hungarian and she had thoughtfully provided a translator.  So some of the phrasology was quaint or just a tad awkward.  Then I came to this magical phrase that I thought of this morning when I noticed that the dogwood leaves, right on schedule, have begun to turn.  Read it.  Read it slowly.  And aloud.  And you'll see how lovely it is:

Slowly it is autumn already knocking at the gate.

Come on in, autumn.  We're ready.  And Happy New Year.