It happens this week! The FIRST day of autumn, September 22^nd. This is my absolute favorite time of the year, with the heavenly autumn palate from God’s studio showing up in the indigenous forests across the country in vibrant hues of orange, red, gold and amber.

The passing of September’s lunar cycle gave the skies quite a show as on the early morning of September 16^th a crescent moon and Venus moved next to one another. It was spectacular. The crescent moon of September always signals the approach of the Florida Fall and the Harvest Moon that follows the autumnal equinox. And it always reminds me of my Dad

My father, Richard Kinney, was my astronomy hero. He was gifted with a mathematical mind, able to understand the science of numbers and astro-physics. He loved the skies! From the time I was nine years old, he would take me out on the city sidewalks of North Miami, which was the new suburbia of Miami, and point his Tasco telescope to the skies and share the mysteries of the moon with me. He later moved up to the Celestron telescope, which remained set up at all times, dependent on the immediate need to catch “the moment.” I can still remember watching the Telstar satellite, looking like a fast moving star, pass over head. It fascinated me, even as a child and he fascinated me with the knowledge he shared. Later he would take me to what was then called the Miami Space Transit Planetarium, south of downtown Miami and we would be in a large conference room sharing with other astronomers before we moved to the roof where we gazed through the “big” telescope viewing the rings of Saturn, Jupiter and the moon.

Autumn lights will always be beautiful to me. The daylight hours of vibrant colors, the night time sky with its Harvest Moon scheduled this year for October 4^th.

So don’t forget that “stardust” on autumn nights has a resplendent spirituality to it and you just might find yourself acknowledging the Creator for the moment!

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