Fall has always been my favorite time of the year.

My being born in October has nothing to do with it.

For me, Autumn is more than just a season.

It is a feeling …

Something which is not experienced or felt during the other three.

It is timeless. And yet, it goes by far too fast.

I always begin the fall season early. Even though the summer is not quite finished with itself, just yet.

The calendar may still say August, but my heart is telling me that autumn is right around the corner.

So I begin my preparations.

I purchase mums — which are already out in greeneries and local department stores. Thank goodness.

I retrieve the totes from my basement which have been calling my name for months.

Inside, they hold years worth of items which I have carefully collected.

Pumpkins in the colors of orange and white.

Strands of garland containing red, orange, yellow and brown leaves intertwined with different types of berries.

Wooden signs announcing the arrival of fall.

Welcoming those who have thought about me and took the time to briefly visit for a while.

What are not found within the totes themselves are my other reminders of autumn.

The outside noises coming indoors through the opened windows which were closed all summer long.

The smells of cinnamon and pumpkin coming from the homemade pies baking in the oven.

The anticipation of the football season, as pre-games air across television screens throughout the house.

The candles whose wicks flicker and emit the aromas of September and October. Cinnamon, pumkin, apples, coffee, autumn leaves …

It is a magical time of the year, indeed.

My favorite color has always been October.

I have often compared autumn to life.

Actually, I have always believed the seasons truly do reflect life and represent who we are as humans.

Of course, most people see it that way. It is certainly not a new concept.

We know that spring is when everything is born. When everything comes to life. Blooming. Growing a little more with each passing day.

And summer, summer represents when we are older.

Passing our time in days that are filled with sunshine.

Those times when we are happy and living our best selves.

Taking a vacation, going to a concert, swimming in a pool, sharing in a picnic and barbecuing with our friends.

Sure, there are those severely hot, humid and miserable days.

Days in which we must cut the grass and weed, wash the vehicles, make house repairs. It is a time for work.

But work and play are exactly what we do as we get older.

And then autumn arrives.

Autumn which possesses a beauty we are not worthy of even having.

And yet, God felt we were deserving of it.

It is like nothing else we will ever experience.

When we look back at the year, at our life, we are now able to fully realize that these are the most beautiful moments.

We learn to appreciate what we have and are grateful for what we were given.

We no longer take things for granted. We try to cherish each moment.

Fall affords us the opportunity to say goodbye.

Goodbye to the spring and summer that now lies behind us.

We have grown.

We have lived.

Autumn means we are older.

And falling.

Falling closer to the time when everything will soon begin to die.

And with the arrival of winter, the days are cold and bitter.

Each day grows more dark than the one before.

Winter is the conclusion of what has been a beautiful year … a beautiful life. But all good things must finally, come to an end.

Winter is closure. And yet, if you look close enough, at times, there are still small, brief moments where you can find some simple beauty.

Like the snowfall as it sits along the tree branches.

Everything is covered in that peaceful, white feeling.

You can find deer tracks in the snow.

Confirming that a mother has passed by and was forging for food to take care of her child.

And the winter is so quiet. And still.

It is a calm that informs us we have done all there is to do.

That our days of light and life are now gone.

But it also lets us know that it will be all right.

And there is no reason to be sad because of it.

Because soon, life will begin once again.

Spring is right around the corner.

Where new life will be born.

And the world will go on.

Without us.

But for now, with the coming of autumn before us, I am going to try to be happy. Content with every autumn day. Because they always go by way too fast.

The following are some of my favorite quotes about autumn. By people who are actually authors. I hope you like them as much as I did.

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“Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all.” — Stanley Horowitz

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“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” — L.M. Montgomery

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“Fall has always been my favorite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale.” — Lauren DeStefano

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“When you fall in love with a work of art, you’d die to meet the artist. I am a student of the galleries of Pacific sunsets, full moon rises on the ocean, the clouds from an airplane, autumn forests in Raleigh, first fallen snows. And I’m dying to meet the artist.” — Yasmin Mogahed

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“As long as autumn lasts, I shall not have hands, canvas and colors enough to paint the beautiful things I see.” — Vincent Van Gogh

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“Autumn. The year’s last, lovliest smile.” — William Cullen Bryant.

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“I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house.” — Nathaniel Hawthorne

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“I loved autumn. The one season of the year that God seemed to have put there just for the beauty of it.” — Lee Maynard

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“The leaves are all falling, and they’re falling like they’re falling in love with the ground.” — Andrea Gibson

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“The trees are about to show us how lovely it is to let the dead things go.” — Unknown

(Stenger is the community editor for the Herald-Star and the Weirton Daily Times. She can be contacted at jstenger@heraldstaronline.com.)