It’s been really hard for me to not fill this blog with photos of leaves. Not only is fall my favorite season, I’m a color junkie, and the colors of autumn are some of my favorites.
I’m actually having to restrain myself from going overboard with fall colors in my house – I convinced my husband that we needed orange leather couches (love them!) but now I’m having to temper my colorful inclinations so our home isn’t totally over the top.
I feel like autumn leaves are one of those things that are so perfectly beautiful in life, that they can’t possibly translate in photos. There is no way to replicate the feeling of being surrounded by all the oranges, golds, reds, and greens against a backdrop of purple mountains. The colors, combined with the crispness in the air, the dark evenings, the wildness of wind and rain (especially this year), or, if we’re lucky, the glowing amber sunshine, make our few fall weeks feel so incredibly VITAL.
I think our fall is going to be over soon… I wouldn’t mind a couple of frosts before we get snow though – frosty orange and red leaves are glorious.
Here’s a poem to get you ready for winter:
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.
Gretchen, in our house in Eagle River we had red carpeting in the living room and an orange couch with red stripes. The kitchen countertops were orange and the kitchen/family room had orange and gold patterned paper. Maybe you’re related to me! (I loved the poem….) Margie
Margie, I think your Eagle River home sounds utterly divine! There must be something in our DNA that steers us toward fall colors 🙂 And isn’t Mary Oliver just great? I’ve really been enjoying her work.