“The shed of leaves became a cascade of red and gold and after a time the trees stood skeletal against a sky of weathered tin. The land lay bled of its colors. The nights lengthened, went darker, brightened in their clustered stars. The chilled air smelled of woodsmoke, of distances and passing time. Frost glimmered on the morning fields. Crows called across the pewter afternoons.” —JC Blake.

Psithurism (n) the sound of rustling leaves. Origin: Greek

“If a year was tucked inside of a clock, then Autumn would be the magic hour.” –Victoria Erickson

Autumn shows us how beautiful it is to let things go.

Song for Autumn by Mary Oliver
 
In the deep fall
don’t you imagine the leaves think how
comfortable it will be to touch
the earth instead of the
nothingness of air and the endless
freshets of wind? And don’t you think
the trees themselves, especially those with mossy,
warm caves, begin to think
 
of the birds that will come — six, a dozen — to sleep
inside their bodies? And don’t you hear
the goldenrod whispering goodbye,
the everlasting being crowned with the first
tuffets of snow? The pond
vanishes, and the white field over which
the fox runs so quickly brings out
its blue shadows. And the wind pumps its
bellows. And at evening especially,
the piled firewood shifts a little,
longing to be on its way.

6 thoughts on “autumn leaves must fall”

  1. My husband is off this week, so we have been working together to empty my big ceramic flowerpots. A ceramic birdbath has been tucked away in a warm corner of the covered back porch along with all the empty pots.
    Fall has been uncharacteristically mild here, so the trees have been holding on to their bright colors. The black walnut that towers over the back garden has however been pelting the ground with walnuts for weeks. The walnuts, which are lime-green and lemon-scented when they first fall, hit the ground with a loud “thunk, thunk. thunk…”. On the ground the rock-hard walnuts quickly turn into a soft, papery, oily-black mess. We have been collecting buckets and buckets of them.
    Yesterday, I tucked away some of the garden tools in the shed and brought out the snow shovels. I stacked the shovels against the front fence ready for use, but I really, really hope that we are over prepared for what November weather will bring.

  2. I love your leafy pictures!

    The colors here in SW Virginia are not nearly as vibrant this year – usually we get more of the reds and oranges, but this year many of the leaves have simply turned brown and dropped (drier than normal, and warmer than normal). We’ve got some bright yellow, a few bits of orange, and a very few random bits of red – sometimes just one branch on a single tree.

  3. Beautiful photographs, Diane, and such beautiful words to go with them.
    I think the second one here is just gorgeous!
    Have a wonderful week ahead, my friend.
    xo.

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