welcome readers & writers!
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here's my response to today's prompt, a photo i took yesterday at walnut creek here in austin:
Yes, Demery, there really is autumn in Austin. Last September, our first in this great big state of Texas, I kept waiting for the leaves to turn. I'm pretty sure it happened sometime near the middle of December. This did not go over well with me. It didn't help, of course, that I was grieving the loss of so many beautiful Pennsylvania people, traditions, and, of course, Pennsylvania autumns. Rolling hills and crisp air that carries on it the smell of fireplaces crackling at night and that little nip in the air for Saturday morning soccer games. Pumpkin picking. Fresh apple cider. Weeks on end when even the gentlest breeze could whisper through the trees and send leaves fluttering to the ground like big fluffy, unwieldy snowflakes.
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It didn't help that Austin was in a record breaking drought when our moving van rolled into town, that we spent our first few months here watching our grass die, our trees wilt and every green plant in the the neighborhood turn brown. It didn't help that Halloween day dawned too warm for me to wear my long sleeved black jack-o-lantern t-shirt. We did have - oh - a full five minutes of snow. Once. Not long before Christmas. When the leaves were bright yellow, orange and red and only just getting around to contemplating their dramatic little swan dives. Just before Christmas. Right around Hannukah. Pulling out the rake. Did I mention?
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To see a smattering... just a few... gorgeous fallen leaves yesterday was a happy surprise. Maybe this year's weather and lack of drought is the difference. Or maybe my heart is opening to my wonderful not-so-new city and I simply had the eyes to see the first fallen beauties this year. Regardless, it's September for another day or two and Austin's autumn is right on time.
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come write with me? story, poem, creative non-fiction or simply just your description of how fall is unfolding where you are. click on comments below to share. i love to read your work!
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It didn't help that Austin was in a record breaking drought when our moving van rolled into town, that we spent our first few months here watching our grass die, our trees wilt and every green plant in the the neighborhood turn brown. It didn't help that Halloween day dawned too warm for me to wear my long sleeved black jack-o-lantern t-shirt. We did have - oh - a full five minutes of snow. Once. Not long before Christmas. When the leaves were bright yellow, orange and red and only just getting around to contemplating their dramatic little swan dives. Just before Christmas. Right around Hannukah. Pulling out the rake. Did I mention?
-
To see a smattering... just a few... gorgeous fallen leaves yesterday was a happy surprise. Maybe this year's weather and lack of drought is the difference. Or maybe my heart is opening to my wonderful not-so-new city and I simply had the eyes to see the first fallen beauties this year. Regardless, it's September for another day or two and Austin's autumn is right on time.
-
come write with me? story, poem, creative non-fiction or simply just your description of how fall is unfolding where you are. click on comments below to share. i love to read your work!
COMPOSITION
ReplyDeleteThe question has shifted in my lifetime.
I had thought, believed, wished it would simply
go away: does God interact with our lives?
It has become does the Universe? Spirituality,
as in Wicca, UUism, agnostic AAism, Punk Rock,
Steampunk, Goth, has shifted from personal contact
with an almighty to integration with all. If the
everything responds locally it is micro-microscopic activity; it's natural, quanta-fiable behavior, it's the
beauty of reality.
And can we make it happen? Find
the ritual that stirs the meons and youons into
desirable results? An old submerged branch, a
younger leaf, the flow of water: what puts them there?
Pilgrim's Gully
ReplyDeleteOff the high way you will see a caravan circled in a hollow grove
Park here
Walk down the path of least resistance
Where the farmer parks his tractor
Climb around the John Deere mass
steady on the steep and rooted path
This gives way to smooth rock
we've had a dry summer
Towels and t-shirts lounge in the sun
Carry on
Like Moses
Walk through on dry land
Hearing the cries of children
not far off
Your feet will hit the gully about a 1/4 mile from the road
Look for the red maple
Demery, I LOVE THIS PHOTO!!! It would be beautiful in my office with my leaf border/pale gold paint. Great pic!
ReplyDelete