Autumn is here and we are having unusually wet weather. Almost to the day of the solstice, I felt a heaviness in my lungs. From a Chinese medicine point of view, autumn is the element of metal and it rules the meridians of the lungs and large intestines. It might have had something to do with the few days I spent in NYC walking for hours amid the thick traffic, or it might also have been the herbal cigarettes I purchased and smoked on a whim, and it also could be that with this season in particular I may need to give some attention to these organ systems. Something else to consider is that with this season, and the metal element, the emotional association is grief.