Awesome Autumn
by CTinVT ~ September 1st, 2009. Filed under: Seasons, Vermont Reflections.
My Favorite Autumn Tree, Peacham, VT Photo by CTYanky
Stop. Look. Listen.
Our Glorious Season Is About to Unfold!
As I gaze upon this tree in its full autumn glory, my heart can’t help but skip a beat. Fall is around the corner. Visual snapshots of the season race before me. Dazzling leaves of red, orange and gold, autumn canopies over winding back roads, and colorful, misshapen gourds stacked like mountains at the farm stand. Fields of towering haystacks and scrambled corn mazes. Rustling leaves twirling down the sidewalk – a sandstorm of flickering colors.
Harvest fairs and foliage festivals, hay rides to apple orchards and pumpkin patches. Hot cider with sticks of cinnamon served with warm cider doughnuts and apple fritters. Colorful mums cascading down my front stoop with Indian corn, a fall wreath and dried corn stalks at its entry.
Clear, cool nights and warm, sparkling, crisp days. Heavenly smoke from fireplaces and wood stoves saturating the air on an evening stroll. The first hard frost. Scarecrows on the town green, Halloween and October’s Harvest Moon. Vermont.
If I close my eyes, I can just smell the autumn air laden with a bouquet of fermenting earth and fallen leaves. Ahhhhh, that musky aroma of the season; invigorating and nostalgic. With all my senses, I savor this delicious season most of all. Its evocative smells and visual delights challenge New England’s remaining three.
Memories of my childhood come flooding back. I am jumping in piles of leaves in the front yard with my siblings, lying in the middle, looking up at the deep blue autumn sky in silence. My Dad is burning leaves in the stone fireplace pit behind my house. The wood chopping and stacking have begun. Our faithful wood stove stands sentinel, waiting to provide warmth to our home and to our souls.
Last year about this time, I came home to find a single, red maple leaf lying on my door mat! I stood in awe for a moment and sheepishly looked around. Did someone put this leaf here to play a joke on me knowing that I am a lover of fall? Or better yet, was this a personal gift from Mother Nature herself? Did she cause this solitary leaf to slowly drift down from the tree to land on my porch, a sign intended for me and me alone?
It dared me to squeal in delight like a child who had just discovered a hidden treasure in the woods! I cradled this tiny leaf, my precious harbinger of fall, and proudly stuck it in my foliage wreath. Oh, how it stood out like a shining star amongst the rest! It welcomed me for days to come…
Then, the smile of contentment appeared. That yearly “aura of autumnal glow” had begun to take form. My favorite season cometh…
Keep your eyes peeled upward and look around you. Hints of the season are here. The days are shortening, an occasional flock of geese is flying overhead, honking as if to herald in the change, the crowns of trees are dulling, a single cluster of leaves that has turned in color catches your eye as if to tease you. A sudden chill in the air has warranted a sweater or jacket. Squirrels are scurrying about in the search for their coveted acorns.
The subtle signs of fall have arrived. Mother Nature has begun her master plan: ‘Awesome Autumn’ will soon take center stage.
How has this magical season captured my heart in such a way? The secret is locked within. Perhaps someday, I will share this story with you. In the meantime, I’ll admit the obvious. I will always be in love with fall.
Mother Nature, you can open the curtains. I am waiting for you in the front row.
My favorite quote:
Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedding to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns
. ~ George Elliot
September 2nd, 2009 at 7:42 am
Stop. Look. Listen…………..Your advice is welcomed CT. So often we are so busy with our lives, always rushing here and there. Always “too busy” to notice our surroundings and the changes that Mother Nature makes. I used to be one of those people who didn’t take notice. Looking at the world through the lens of my camera has helped to change that for me.
I really enjoyed reading this blog. I loved reading about your personal experiences. Yes, I bet that red leaf on your doorstep was a gift from Mother nature herself!
I can relate to so much of what you have eloquently written. We are kindred spirits. I often say that the season of Autumn in Vermont is like a drug to me. It puts me on a natural high. I know how corny that must sound….but it’s true.
I will always remember this quote from you CT: “Mother nature, you can open the curtains. I am waiting for you in the front row.” I will be sitting right beside you CT in the front row, and I know that so many other readers here will be joining us!
abby
September 3rd, 2009 at 6:19 pm
CT, you are a very talented writer. You created for me an image, not only of sight and sound but of smell. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. For me that is very true. For you, you did it in 628 words, (I used Word’s work counter to check.) but you created more than a picture. Your writing created a multi-dimentional image for me. Excellent article.