Greetings, dear Friends,

October can be a melancholy month for some of us.

Those who revel in the heat of summer, surely have done a LOT of reveling this year, with August recorded as the hottest on record!

In my childhood, it was the end of August that the weather took a turn with cooler nights. September would fly by with the weather changes not noted, or even missed because of the shock and thrill of the return to school.

But it is marked increase in falling leaves and the crisp cool days, and the brilliantly colored trees against the clear blue sky that truly mark October.

In the United States October is LGBTQ Pride Month. How do you mark this on your personal calendar? Let’s consider ways UUCNC can extend a special welcome to members of the LGBTQ community who might enjoy this congregation. They may not even know we exist!

What other kinds of activities do you focus on in October? Do you tend a vegetable garden, clean it up and put it to “bed” for the winter? Do you follow the holidays of the Celtic or Wiccan calendar and start to plan for those celebrations? Do you take a pilgrimage somewhere to reflect and prepare for the snowy season ahead?

Halloween is special, traditionally a holiday to celebrate and plan for with costumes and sweets and trick or treating. The thinning veil between this world and the next offers an opportunity to seek wisdom from those who have gone before, those who have paved the path ahead for us to follow.

Which ancestors come to mind for you at this time of year?

Let’s share some of these stories with one another this month of transition!

In Faith,
Rev. Sally