As I write, it’s eighty-seven degrees. My favorite season still lingers although my reddish farmer’s tan has faded to pale.
Autumn has made an appearance, first noticed on the pond.
Chilly nights and warm, sunny days create a striking palette. All of this is a gift but I’m already missing
the spring and summer that slid from under my feet so quickly.
Why is it that I miss the seasons that exhaust me? Breathing is easy now. At last, there’s time to rest and wander.
I lifted their green summer protective blanket. They surface for attention, showing off their brilliance with
dazzling splashes.
Autumn - the prelude of winter, blankets, steamy aromas in the kitchen, and long, dark nights, means a little moodiness for some?
For me? A little melancholy.
The mountains are glorious in shades of burnt reds and goldens. It’s beginning to change here.
Darkness falls early.
So I regrettably move indoors
not wanting to miss or wish for any season.
Instead, I light a candle
and promise myself to enjoy the light or dark, warm or cold - as I know the bold truth.
Most of my seasons are behind me.
Awww…Taken several weeks ago, before the feeder shakedown. In a month or two, I’ll have a backyard bird party!
Have a glorious weekend and enjoy Autumn's pizzazz.
35 comments:
A beautiful post Mary! Your pictures are awesome as usual! Happy Weekend!
Love how the khoi fit the theme.
Jesus, Mary! W T F?
I am looking forward to the day you have bird feeders again. You need some BEWD love.
Your photos, as always, are astoundingly sharp and vivid.
Dammit.
: )
Beautiful pictures, as always, even as you are lamenting the loss of summer and the loss of daylight hours. I love the koi pics - I want a fish pond!
At first glance, I thought the last line of your post read: "Have a glorious weekend and enjoy Autumn's pizzas" and I thought, mmmmmm, okay! Don't mind if I do! Pizzazz is okay, too. I just really like pizzas.
Art deals with the melancholy that the shorter days bring. I am envigorated by the cool, dry air. My nesting instincts kick into high gear and I find every breath feels fresh.
"Most of my seasons are behind me."
GULP
Lovely post, Mary. I think our leaves were at their fall peak this past week. We had some rain over night and today and many of the trees have lost a lot of leaves.
I love your Koi, how colorful and fitting of fall.
Hope you can put out your feeders soon.
Mary, I think I need to teach you how to knit! Cold, dark days and nights mean that you will have more time to sit on the couch (with a warm cuddly BT curled up on each side of you) and knit all sorts of warm and colorful things with lovely alpaca, silk and mohair yarns.
All's I know is that it works for me! ;-)
Every season has something wonderful to offer Mary....and I know you will find it.....I think I remember you saying you suffer with SAD....perhaps that is why you feel as you do.......you are not alone Mr P also hates to say goodbye to summer......
Ooooh! So beautiful! I know you are probably sick of seeing me leave these comments, saying the same thing - but that's always the first thought that comes to mind. The colors!
I'm probably the only one who is more than happy to see summer go! My least favorite season. Autumn is best.
:)
~*
Mary, those koi shots are so vibrant! They'd make terrific notecards. I can see them with a 'watercolor' filter... I'm loving the colors you've captured. ('tis Anne (nikkipolani) but can't comment using OpenID today...)
Lovely photos Mary. Do you have your fish named? They are getting so BIG. I love seeing them. Happy Weekend to you too.
When we lived in Wisconsin, I had terrible melancholy at the end of summer. It meant endless days in which the sun did not shine, and messy driving in the snow.
Now that we are in NC, that is definitely gone. The sun shines more days than not, and the morning sun shines directly into the great room. I can sit with my coffee and watch the birds gathering at the feeders. Winter is no longer a season to dread.
Wait a minute! You're in NC as well, and in a warmer area than I am. Surely your winters here are better than in Maryland.
Carolyn, oh, yes! Winters are so much more bearable here in NC! Dreading winter is a habit. I never dreaded snow but didn't like dealing with it. A good snowfall in Charlotte would be nice... And, remember, I leave for work before 7am, work in a windowless office, and arrive home by 4:30. That gives me roughly an hour of daylight to enjoy each day and it's not enough for me. I spend my daylight time on poop patrol! LOL!
I love this time of year for it's coolness and beauty. Thanks for sharing your beautiful photos!
Your fishies are gorgeous! I love that they are showing off :)
Delightful, marvelous photographs, Mary. You have an eye for beauty, methinks, and that even when it isn't plumed with gorgeous feathers!
I especially liked the grass skipper, although the amberwing is positively delightful as well. (Must I admit I'm always a nut for insects?)
Another throught-provoking and beautifully presented post. Brava!
Dear Mary,
I vote for lots of work at home days so you can be near the window and the daylight and the winter birds.
It should be against the law for anyone to have to work with out a window.
Can you go walking about any more at lunch time or do they have your nose to the grind stone?
Hope you can stop at the grocery store pond soon. I bet the herons miss you.
Love and light,
Sherry
I also really really miss spring and summer. Where did they go?
I thought that last line was enjoy autumn's pizza! I think someone else did as well. Hmmm...we must be hungry! LOL.
Loved your pics. The colours are bright and vivid. Do your koi stay in the pond all winter?
Wendy, yes they do. During below freezing or up to 50, they rest on the bottom of the pond, dormant in a way.
Mary before you know it you will have your feeders back. I love the photos of the koi. They are as colorful as this time of year. Your posts do make me smile.
Gorgeous pictures. This is my favorite time of year. I love when there is that chill in the air. Time for homemade soups and stews. Start baking again. Gain back the weight I lost. Just wonderful.
The koi, I hope I spelled that right, are colorful and friendly.
saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaq Sorry about that. My cat decided to say hello
I just added the Autumn Leaves in my plug in. I love it. Very nice fresh smell.
Well time to go. Keep taking those lovely pictures and sharing your words with us. Lisa
I like the way you have captured the stunning colours of all your subjects..,the water, leaves & fishes.
The colors are beautifully saturated and the images with the bunch of colorful fishes works best for me
Mary, I always come here to feast my eyes on your beautiful photos, but I always enjoy your commentary. I never look forward to winter, either, but I always think that those cold long nights make me appreciate the beauty of spring and summer that much more. I'm imagining you with a farmer's tan, LOL!
Hi Mary,
You just fed my artistic side this morning. You are an artist with that camera.Keep posting those wonderful images, so the bloggers in this troubled world can have some beauty to look at.
Holy moly -- your post felt like something Nina would do--and I mean that as a high compliment! So melancholy. We both need some bird love.
Wow, that hibiscus blossom looks like it's 4 feet around. Great macro shot.
The ruddy lily pad photos are exquisite, Mary! Your posts are always beautiful and/or thought provoking - this is a little of each.
When Frank Sinatra sang "It Was A Very Good Year"(link to YouTube) he was only 49, but said it was the "autumn" of his year. I hope that doesn't hold true four decades later ;-]
Maybe taking lots of flash photos in winter could provide enough bright light to head off the SAD!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Mary,
Autumn is my favorite time of year yet it always makes me a bit melancholy, too. Like you, I leave for work in the dark and work in a windowless room. It makes me ache for the time missed outdoors. This probably makes us appreciate the time we have home all the more.
Your Koi are amazingly gorgeous!
I love the Yankee Candle with lamp shade! It's still summer down here in south Florida.
Hola Mary,
Back after a while ;)
Great post, with nice colours. Over here Spring is beginning, and well, we don't really have an Autumn... no fire colours on the trees :(
Thanks for showing me how it is over there.
Love,
Mel
That first photo certainly looks more tropical than autumn, but I am feeling the lack of daylight here also. I think it makes most people pensive and melancholy. You certainly waxed poetic today. I love your fish and that little chickadeee is too cute!
Mary, what a feast of photos! I love your koi and that one eye peeping past the leaves. Wow! One of the nicer aspects of having seen many seasons is that you appreciate the changes and beauty they bring.
Thanks for brightening my day!
Oh Mary, where have I been? These photo's are phenomenal! My favorites would be the Koi fish, but I love them all. Hopefully you are as pleased with the results as I am : )
Thank you for adding me to your blog list. That was so kind of you.
Sharon
Once again, what incredible photos! The khoi are amazing...how many do you have? I hope you don't mind my asking another question: why do you take your birdfeeders down in the Fall?
Thanks so much for sharing such an incredible and beautiful array of photographs. Those look like two very feisty and happy pups you have!
I live in NC also....about 3 - 4 hrs East of you, in the "Sandhills". It's been an "adjustment" for me, getting used to the shorter days, as I moved up here from Florida. At first, it was actually depressing, with the dark, the cold and the lack of green. Now, I am learning to love it...the way that the seasons gradually shift, from one into the next...and the way that nature has a rhythm all her own...
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