Resilience 

If your autumn travels have found you on the back roads of the northeastern United States and Canadian provinces, you've likely witnessed the brilliant explosion of nature's colors from leaf change in the countryside. And if you are lucky, you've stumbled upon the cultivated wetlands known as cranberry bogs. 

Both of these colorful vistas herald the end of the growing season, gathering the harvest and preparing for winter. In late autumn, resources are dwindling and careful planning could mean the difference between scarcity and abundance. From a Feng Shui  perspective, the autumn season represents the elemental phase of transition from yang to yin energy and from Earth to Metal. It is linked to our offspring, creativity and the childlike qualities within us. As in nature, the season reminds us to slow down, collect our thoughts and make plans for bringing new ideas to fruition.

Vibrant rainbows of fall foliage are often described as nature's last gasp before yielding to the monochromatic shades of winter. Burnt orange and magenta provide a sharp contrast on an emerald green backdrop. In autumn, cranberries are floated to the surface of a bog to facilitate their harvest, creating a blaze of brilliant crimson atop deep blue water. But despite their picturesque and placid exterior, cranberry bogs disguise very harsh growing conditions beneath the surface. Formed by glacial shifts thousands of years ago, these wetlands contain clay, sand and rock with cold, mostly acidic water - not exactly hospitable conditions for most plants. But the evergreen shrubs that produce nutritious and useful cranberries thrive in these marshes because they are durable and have adapted to their habitat.  

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