A Little More Fall Colour

This year the colours seem to be nicer than ever. Even in the city, the reds are bright, as are the oranges.



I always have to stop and gawk. While gardens fade, the trees are putting on quite a show.

Falling

Despite the incredible burst of colour there is always something a bit melancholy about fall. The incredible blue skies and brightly coloured leaves are juxtaposed with the dry leaves on the ground which are starting to decay.

Yet even this decay smells good - autumn has a freshness about it that the languorous summer days don't. Everything is crisp: the air, the crunch of the leaves, the views, cleared of that summer haze.

Fresh fallen leaves blanket the earth putting fresh nutrients into the soil. While it is a time of decay, it is also the time to prepare the earth for next year's growth. The melancholy thoughts are fleeting when the sun shines!

Autumn Carpet

Autumn Carpet, a photo by susanvg on Flickr.

The leafy curtain is falling turning into a forest carpet. Vistas are revealed - a peek at the river and the buildings of downtown Montreal. The air smells of autumn. I love the sound of the leaves as you walk on their dried remains.


There are still some bright blasts of colour, but slowly the world is turning sepia.

Getting Bare

Getting Bare, a photo by susanvg on Flickr.

Spring starts like a pointilist painting - dots of greens dabbed onto the trees. Now fall goes out the same way, with dots of autumn colours on the almost bare branches.

Soon greys will take over. I'm feasting my eyes on the last of the colours.

Autumn Walk

Autumn Walk, originally uploaded by susanvg.

Autumn is in a state of decay in Eastern Ontario. Many of the leaves are down, crumbling underfoot. Flowers have gone to seed, their feathery bits float in the wind like snowflakes.

Seed pods turn into fantastic sculptures as they dry out .
          

There is beauty in this decay as the colour palette changes to browns. In the plant world decay is temporary. Spring will bring rebirth.

A Splash of Sunshine

A Splash of Sunshine, originally uploaded by susanvg.

The sun shone
saturating the leaves
with its golden rays.
Flaming branches flickered
in the gentle breeze

Autumn is an enigma
Bright displays
Reach to the sky
While on the ground
the fallen leaves
dry and crumble

Fallen Leaves

Fallen Leaves, originally uploaded by susanvg.

I just read Anne Michael's latest book, The Winter Vault. It deals a lot with memory and place. Interesting ideas to mull over and I like her way of writing - very poetic.

On a rainy day, I brought my spouse to St. Donat to see the house and grounds where I spent my summers and weekends from the mid-50s to 1986. I wanted him to peek into my memories. For me the place had layers - with ghosts and visions of years past. I saw not only what was there that day, but also the people and events I lived with and through here. Even the house, renovated and expanded since my parents sold it, I saw as it was. Many of the people who populated that life are now gone - they too are memories.

I have not gone often since the house was sold. And when I do, I go when I know no one will be there. I need to feel that I am not tresspassing. It's hard to go back, to see a place that was home and no longer is, to stare at the view across the lake as a stranger. But every so often I need to look again at the place that is still so much part of who I am.

Starting to Decay

Starting to Decay, originally uploaded by susanvg.

The garden has lost its lustre. Many of my perennials are past their prime with fewer blooms and more dead heads to prune. But I like the cooler temperatures, the blue skies and the crisp mornings. It's that in between time when the mornings are fresh and the afternoons balmier. If you leave the house in the morning, you have to dress in layers, that peel off as the temperature rises.

Soon it will be time to cut some of these flowers way back and make room to plant some tulips for spring blooming.

Day 306: Fading

Day 306: Fading, originally uploaded by susanvg.

The leaves that have fallen are losing their colour and fading. I remember as a child, we tried to preserve leaves to keep their vibrant colour all year long. Sometimes we would melt parafin wax and dip the leaves in. It certainly slowed the drying, but eventually the leaves became brittle. Other times we pressed leaves in books or ironed them between two pieces of waxed paper. When my children were young, we made placemats with clear "mactac". We peeled the backing off the mactac, carefully places the leaves and then sealed them in with another piece of mactac. We enjoyed using the placemats, but the leaves slowly faded.

I guess the best way to preserve the colour is through photography and through memory. And, unfortunately those too may fade. But fortunately, each autumn we get to experience, once more, the glory of the changing leaves.

Day 278: Autumn Colour

Day 278: Autumn Colour, originally uploaded by susanvg.

Autumn sets the leaves on fire
Bursts of red like flames
Licking up to the sky
I often wonder why some branches blaze
while others hold onto their green garments
And why this majestic display
before the long sleep of winter