Autumn in North Stoddard County
I never can decide which season of the year is my favorite. The spring is such a welcome time, after a long Missouri winter, but when autumn comes, I'm overwhelmed by the riot of color that Mother Nature produces, just before we dip into the cold season again.
Fortunately, we had just enough recent rain to offset the effects of a horrible drought, and the trees are responding with some of the reds and yellows we so love.
Fall in Missouri is abundant with the gold and yellow of maple trees, the burnt orange of the oak, and the brilliant red of sumac.
I like to take my camera out and tramp the woods to capture these fleeting moments of beauty. I especially love autumn when the wind blows and sets the leaves scampering along the ground, fluttering from the trees like bright yellow finches.
It's time to bring in the hummingbird feeders, before the bees take them over. I feel sad, as I wash them and pack them away until May, when my tiny winged friends return.
A few days ago, we stopped at the Mennonite stand on Highway 25 in Aquilla, between Advance and Bloomfield. The yellow mums were spectacular, and the pumpkins were of more sizes, shapes and colors than I ever knew existed! This stand has been our spring and summer haunt all year. We've relished the homegrown tomatoes, corn, purple-hulled peas, sweet onions, watermelons, cantaloupes, and cucumbers. Today we added whole pickled beets to our lunch.
Now, as the landscape enters the last phase of brilliant color, I hold onto it, longing to keep it in my memory for another year. The cool nights and warm, windy days are a treasure. The air smells crisp and fresh.
I'm reminded of the lines from Robert Frost:
Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower,
But only so an hour.
So leaf subsides to leaf
So Eden sank to grief.
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
Comments
- -- Posted by goat lady on Wed, Oct 17, 2012, at 1:38 PM
- -- Posted by Madeline1 on Wed, Oct 17, 2012, at 9:57 PM
- -- Posted by swift on Sat, Oct 20, 2012, at 11:02 AM
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