Our lovely foliage season has come to an end. Any of the trees that had thoughts of prolonging their beauty were surreptitiously stripped of their leaves in an overnight windstorm. The view along the ridge went from spectacular to more muted, just like that! The next morning, the road crew installed the “whips”, or markers that guide the snowplows in white out conditions along the ridge.
The tenacious lilacs and oaks are some of the last to let go, and the squirrels are madly gathering acorns, chattering at the cats through the windows.
The Braintree Meeting House has been safely closed up and shuttered for the winter.
The milkweed pods have opened and their downy seed parachutes are sparking all over the meadows along the road. Dried ferns, grasses and wildflower heads create a different kind of beauty in the ditches.
Late afternoon sunshine filters through the forest and it is more beautiful than any stained glass you could find in a cathedral.
The sunsets…oh my, oh my…the sunsets.
It’s really about the light this time of year…How can we not detect the “thinning of the veil” between the real world and the world of the unknown? As the season shifts and so many cultures recognize the magic, can you sense it? I think of all of my beloveds who have passed from this world before me. I will light a candle and I’ll gather photos of those who have gone before me. I will write their names on paper, I will hold them close to my heart, I will remember them with love. I will thank them for the legacies they have left to me. Halloween. Samhain, el Día de los Muertos, All Soul’s Day…
Here’s a sneak peek at a piece I’m working on. I’m calling it “memory” and I’ve used fabric dyed by hand. Blue from indigo grown here in our gardens, mustard gold from dried marigolds sent to me by my cousin Kristen, who grew them in her gardens in New Mexico. A bit of an homage to the strands of marigolds that play such a beautiful part in the altars put together for Day of the Dead .
Some of the wild, heirloom apple trees are holding onto their fruit. The flock of wild turkeys continue their daily loop of the neighborhood, gorging on the fruit as it falls to the ground, a few apples at a time.
I’ve been brewing different teas as the season moves ahead…Black Currant Tea, Kukicha Twig Tea and Mineral Magic Tea (grown and blended not far from us.) Reading more often, under a down comforter, stretched out on the couch, after my early morning meditations. My friend Anne over at My Giant Strawberry recommended The Olive Farm and I read it in a flash…the next few in the series are on order from Thrift Books. Casting on a cowl, for the chilly days ahead. Thinking about washing the inside of the windows, after Batman washed some of them from outside. Making a list for the last outdoor Farmers Market up in Montpelier tomorrow. Noticing the sliver of a moon, hanging over the mountains across the way.
Focusing on the present moment. Breathing in deeply, filling my lungs with gratitude, exhaling slowly. Yes. This is the way forward.
What’s up with you, dearest reader? What are you noticing about the seasonal shifts? xo