Not quite a hazy shade of autumn... but close!

The world in these parts has definitely shifted from the warm days of summer into the hazy and very cool shades of autumn: the trees are turning, the night air is cold and the days are shorter by almost an hour. Poet laureate, Donald Hall, notes in his essays on the seasons in New England:

Walking in late September, we gaze south towards Kearsarge from the dawn window under the great maple that torches the hillside. Each morning is more outrageous than the one before, days outdoing their predecessors as sons outdo their fathers. We walk out over the chill dew to audit glorious wreckage from the night's cold passage - new branches suddenly turned, others gone deeper into ranges of fire, trees vying to surpass each other and their yester-selves... as the dog bounces (before us) so our hearts bounce with a happy overload, our landscape turned into a sensuous Italian crockery or grand opera staged by the cold hills.

I LOVE autumn - my favorite season of the year - although it is often melancholy given the brutal winters that follow. Still, it is a time for rejoicing - and tonight we're going to enter the celebration by visiting with the Paul Winter Consort.

I first saw Paul Winter in 1968 at the Fillmore East when they filled in for the Kinks at the last minute. It seems that the Kinks drummer had come down with hepatitis and could not travel across the pond at the last minute. So, in addition to the Voices of East Harlem - another last minute surprise - Paul Winter et al brought his mix of jazz, world music, spirituality and early New Age wizardry to the East Village.

I was in heaven - this adoration of genre bending as been a long time love affair it seems - and continues to inform my spirituality. It also informs my sense of liturgy and worship where improvisation and tradition meet like parts of a tapestry and the whole becomes far more beautiful than the individual parts.

One of my all-time favorite liturgical experiences took place with Paul Winter in 2002 when he joined the spiritual leadership of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in NYC for their annual feast of St. Francis. In addition to dancers and choirs - jazz and ancient hymnody - there was the procession of the animals. People from all over New York, of course, had already filled the cathedral with their own animals: cats and dogs, lizards and birds sat patiently through the worship order. And then ALL the animals - owners and pets as well as friends borrowed from local zoos - processed down the center aisle for a blessing. There were eagles and camels, wolves and zebras. Once there was even an elephant but apparently insurance issues now make that impossible.

And all the while Winter and the church organist were improvising on ancient melodies and filling the spectacle with sounds of faith, hope and love. Not every Sunday can (or should) be such a festival, but the unity of old with new - old friends and new guests - stays a lively part of how I understand and experience Sundays.

What makes this evening even more special is that Winter is coming to town in support of the work of Strolling the Heifers - a regional consortium dedicated to the cause of local small farmers - who provide micro-loans to farmers as well as their educational efforts concerning sustainable agriculture. (check them out @ www.strollingoftheheifers.com/v2/) They put it like this:

Whenever New England loses one of its family farms, it loses some its unique identity, some of its agrarian landscape, and some of its proud culture and heritage. Seeking to slow down and even reverse the decline of New England farming, Strolling of the Heifers works to educate the public, and especially school children, about the importance of sustainable local agriculture; we work to preserve the livelihoods of farming families and the health of consumers who depend on local farm products; and we help maintain the patronage of tourists who are drawn to our agricultural environment.

Vacation has truly come to an end now - and while I cherish the long, lazy days of summer - I am opening to the not quite hazy shades of autumn.

(A local congregation sharing the Missa Gaia by Paul Winter - totally GREAT version, too! Photo credits: Dianne De Mott)