I think about things, a lot of things. Sometimes I can even connect the dots between them. But when it comes to writing them all down, to speaking them out loud to all of you, I feel inadequate and unpracticed. But still, this season inspires me, fall, autumn…the only one that gets two names. It makes me want to try to speak of it somehow.

There is a prayer in one of the Haggadah’s, one of the Jewish prayer books for Passover which says in part, “Blessed are you O Lord Our God, Ruler of the Universe, for giving us seasons of remembrance.” Isn’t fall a great season of remembrance? There are all these summer memories to look back on. The beers on the porch. Cool rumpled mornings around the campfire. The lazy weekdays spent reading with kids instead of rushing around for school. And there are the memories from fall’s past to that help you with looking forward. The dusty warm smell of the house the first time you turn on the heater. Your favorite sweater to pull on with jeans – the easiest way to dress ever. The looked forward to experience of a new notebook with crisp pages and fresh pencils.

The thing about this time of year is that I never know what to wear. It’s not cold enough to merit my favorite black turtleneck sweater. It’s certainly too cool to wear anything sleeveless, and most days even short sleeves are too chilly. So last week I put away my summer clothes. I folded up my favorite comfy capris and my drawstring linen pants. I hung my sleeveless Indian tunic in the back of the closet. Those things would be with me at a later date. But a few things I had to get rid of. There are these two white collared t-shirts that are sort of permanently dingy. And the black tank that I wore non-stop last summer is just too short for the new lower-slung cuffed capris that I’m wearing now. So that had to go. And my orange bandana-patterned tank top –the one that always reminds me of something Emily would wear and so I think it’s very cool– it’s getting awfully frayed around the edges. (The jury’s still out on that one.)

That’s pretty sums up Rosh Hashanah. It’s a time to think about your life, to sort of line up the things on your shelves and ask yourself: What do I want to put away for a time, what doesn’t suit this season of my life? …and…What do I need to toss out all together?. The stuff that is for remembering, for hauling out again on a latter date, we celebrate. The stuff that needs to be cleared out, well, we really should try to get rid of it before it creates a lot of internal clutter.

It is a time of remembrance. Remembering lessons learned and gifts received. Remembering what’s not working and trying to alter that. It’s a time to symbolically cast off regrets, mistakes, roadblocks. It’s a time to look with hope to a new start, a new year, a new season.

I think we’ve had a lovely summer. Now it’s time for a rich and meaningful fall. I’m grateful to be able to celebrate that with you tonight. For that which we are about to receive, we are eternally grateful.