Autumn: the state of the departure of water, when it is no longer drawn through the leaves by the sun but drawn from the roots to the earth. In this sense, spring, is the time of the springing up of water again from the roots (and the earth). With these dances of water aside, summer and winter are the only seasons. When people are in an autumnal mood, their thoughts dry out, cease springing forward, and begin to look back, When the leaves finally fall, the looking back to the looking forward vanishes at once and the mind is present, in winter. When the leaves rise again, presence vanishes and is replaced by a springing forth. These are the mysteries. They can’t be systematized. If you find them worked out into a system, you know you have been led astray.

Staghorn Sumac