Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all. ~Stanley Horowitz
I’ve been feeling change lately, like a physical presence. Perhaps it’s school starting or the thread of chill in the morning air. Perhaps it’s the shift in light to a rich, golden hue. Or perhaps it’s that night lingers into morning and arrives earlier each day. Clearly, fall is edging closer.
Autumn invites nostalgia in.
Come sit beside me. Time is passing. Let’s linger here for a moment together.
I find myself feeling slightly more vulnerable to my memories, to recent losses. Contemplative. There’s a shift in the air. A shift in me. Everything feels just a bit different. On the cusp. Summer is sighing, fading away as fall steps in. It’s both beautiful and faintly unsettling. My feelings and thoughts rustle like leaves in a breeze, kaleidoscopic–a flickering mosaic of past, present and future.
Yesterday morning I went to the river to greet the day, something I have seldom done of late. I wanted to be surrounded by the cool serenity of dawn. To slow time down and watch the day awaken. To wrap a blanket of calm around me.
Clouds and light stirred and shifted, layered land, water and sky. Boundaries blurred.
The river slipped in and out of sight behind gilded grasses and veils of glowing mist.
With every moment, the light changed. The view altered. Inevitably clearer, yet still transitioning. Sky. Clouds. Land. Mist. Water. Separating into distinct yet interwoven layers.
I heard them before I saw them. The mournful cries rebounded off the low-lying clouds and filled the chilly air. Unmistakeable. The keen call of Canada geese. I scanned the skies, thinking, as always when I hear them, of Rachel Field’s poem. Something told the wild geese… They flew low above the marsh, passed overhead, then soared around the bend in the river and out of sight.
Change is coming.
Nix the comfort zone 
Another gorgeous illustrated prose poem!
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Thanks, Mary Lee! I can’t resist writing them 🙂
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That’s just what I was thinking! (What Mary Lee Hahn wrote!) Thanks for the prose poem. Poetry. Loved ” To wrap a blanket of calm around me.” Your pictures and poetry wrapped me in calm on this fall day of rain. Perfect description of the day.
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I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Dan. It was a lovely misty, moisty morning. (In my family that always cues up the song by the same name. Do you know it?)
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I do not know the song. Can you send a YouTube link to it?
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Let me know what you think 🙂
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Your family song took me into an English pub. Perhaps an Irish pub? Hannah played the violin as a high schooler. Did you family play instruments in the evening? Mine was not a musical family. Sports were our thing. Enjoyed the joy of this music.
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The images you’ve created here, with both your words and your pictures, are absolutely beautiful.
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Thanks, Sarah. Morning wanderings and photography are great joys of mine. Combining them with writing is always a pleasure.
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As I viewed your photos, I could feel that foggy calm seeping into my soul. Loved your photos that wove a serene story.
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I’m glad to share the serenity.
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Your photos are magnificent. I always enjoy them, especially since I’ve moved from the country and now have fewer opportunities for good nature pictures.
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Thank you so much!
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We wonder what the geese are thinking
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It’s interesting you’d say that, as I was just thinking that I always interpret goose song as mournful, but perhaps that’s just my autumnal lens. Maybe their song is celebratory and I’ve just been listening askew.
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“Autumn invites nostalgia in.” You know, I hadn’t quite put it together, but yes. You’re right. Maybe it’s the dying of the leaves and foliage that prompts me to consider the passage of time (and, if I’m being honest, yes. my own mortality). Thank you for this beautiful post. It meant the world that I could stop, swim for a bit in your words and images, and just…be for a few minutes.
Marvelous.
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Thanks for your understanding, Lainie. I’ve been thinking a lot about how autumn impacts me, and yes, that whole mortality thing. Nature sends a loud and clear message to take stock at this time of year.
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Beautiful writing joined with beautiful photographs. I’m bookmarking this post to come back to when I want to feel your calming words and images.
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I’m so glad you enjoyed my post and am delighted that you’ll come back to visit again. Thanks!
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I was swept away by the beauty of the photos and your words, Molly=>”My feelings and thoughts rustle like leaves in a breeze, kaleidoscopic–a flickering mosaic of past, present and future.”
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Thanks, Carol. Fall is such a beautiful time, but also a time to reflect. I wonder if those who don’t live in areas with such distinct seasons feel the same way.
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Beautiful words, glorious pictures, welcome change! Oh, how I long for autumn. The sweaters, the candles, the socks on the wooden floors, the blankets, the coziness of coffee and a couch and a book. Thanks for whetting my appetite!
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There’s much I love about fall, but this year it’s definitely made me feel more melancholy than most years. Maybe it’s the heating bills I’m dreading… lol
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I love your seasonal personifications. Your sensory details are filled with hope as you share how change is coming. Your photos provide a calming presence accompanying your words. Quite the mindful experience!
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Thank you so much. I’m glad you could sense the calm that I felt and hope it lingered with you as well.
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I love what you have written, but I also love how you provided pictures to enhance the mood.
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