Late Autumn Musing

I saw old autumn in the misty morn stand shadowless like silence, listening to silence.

Thomas Hood

In November,

I am

November.

I am dark and still,

I am cloudy and cold,

I am stormy.

One day I shine;

laugh out loud,

and scatter the leaves.

The next day I freeze -

whipping up an icy wind

blowing snow over everything.

Then, once again

I stop -

Melting into

December.

One white leaf in a sea of brown

Hey. Who’s over there?

A tufted titmouse with a little bite

November at its best - with a sort of delightful menace in the air.

Anne Bosworth Greene

A little taste of winter blew in Monday night.

Snow gathered in the fallen leaves.

A dark-eyed Junco got a face full of snow while searching under the feeder for fallen seeds.

A Carolina Wren showed up on the suet feeder. Seems a bit late to be in Michigan.

A young deer with its beautiful winter coat stayed around the edge of my yard all afternoon.

Listening…

By sunset Wednesday evening, most of the snow was already gone. In this photo, the deer are standing in the light of the setting sun looking oddly orange, except for the parts in the shade.

November’s a burn and an ache.

Charles Wright

November is a strange month. It’s moody. It can be warm and calm. It can be cold, dark and windy. It can be wintry. It can be all of these things in the same day. It takes me along with it if I’m not careful. I try to be careful. I don’t always succeed.

Luckily - by the time you read this - it will be December. Hope your November was full of good weather both internally and externally.

Thank you so much for being here. I will see you next week!

A late November sunset clear, bright and cold.

Consider the Fallen Leaf

How beautiful the leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days. - John Burroughs

October 3, 2022 - A fallen maple leaf in the evening sun

Consider the Fallen Leaf

i saw the leaf before me

full of holes,

curling in upon itself

turning brown

fragile

disintegrating

i saw its veins

darkened by sunlight -

its stem caught

in the crack of a stair

i saw its long shadow

stretching

curling in upon itself

full of holes

i saw the leaf before me

October 3, 2022 - Gathered Leaves and needles from Pier Cove Ravine Trail

October 3, 2022 - Gathering leaves on the trail today, I realized I didn’t really know much about leaves. What do they do for the tree, why do they change colors this time of year, why do they fall off, or if they don’t fall off, why not? Here’s what I learned:

Leaves use water, air and sunlight along with the chlorophyll they already contain to make food (sugar - sucrose) (for the tree. In the fall, when light changes, the chlorophyll starts to break down and whatever color is left in the leaf; depending on its particular chemistry is the color you see. The leaves help the tree grow as long as there is sunlight and available water; but in the winter, when there is less sunlight, and the hard ground makes it difficult for the tree to absorb water, the leaves need to fall off in order for the tree to conserve water. The reason evergreens don’t lose all of their leaves is that their needles or leaves are coated and don’t cause the tree to lose water, so they don’t need to be shed. In warm climates, some trees that are not traditionally considered evergreen also don’t lose their leaves; because they have more available sunlight, and the ground doesn’t freeze. Once leaves fall, of course, they still feed and protect the tree by covering the ground and then breaking down into compost. Birth life - death - rebirth - over and over again every year. It’s amazing.

October 4, 2022 - Fall. Falling. Fallen.

October 4, 2022. We’ve experienced a bluff collapse on Lake Michigan the past few years… it makes for striking images on the beach. The land slid down, trees slid down with it, some falling and dying, some managing to survive in a new location. They are all here; the fallen, the falling and the living - going through fall transition.

October 4, 2022. Sentinels

October 4, 2022. I saw a group of red pines standing next to a house on my run Tuesday night. Evergreens. Tall and regal. Soldiers standing at attention.