Autumn Colors Pt. 2

Golden Glow by JE Lillie

“Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning of the first September was crisp and golden as an apple…”
―    J.K. Rowling,    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

 

Land Of Broken Trees by JE Lillie

“I loved autumn, the one season of the year that God seemed to have put there just for the beauty of it.”
―    Lee Maynard

 

Land Of Broken Ice by JE Lillie

“Love the trees until their leaves fall off, then encourage them to try again next year.”
―    Chad Sugg

 

Broken Fire 2 by JE Lillie

“Autumn…the year’s last, loveliest smile.”  ―    William Cullen Bryant

 

Autumn Colors

Days Of Fire by JE Lillie

“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns” George Elliot

Yellow Days by JE Lillie

“No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace/ As I have seen in one autumnal face” John Donne

October Glow

“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers” L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

Broken Fire by JE Lillie

“Autumn is the hardest season. The leaves are all falling, and they’re falling like they’re falling in love with the ground.” Andrea Gibson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Autumn Drive

A few weeks ago my sister my daughters and I went leaf peeping. I wanted you to be able to peep in with us on God’s glory!

     We started with lunch at the Flipside Grille In Fitzwilliam NH

This is Brenda and Melanie at the Flipside

Afterwards we took a skip over to the town common which was a great place to grab a few family photos and enjoy the colonial feel the town added to the autumn air.

 

 

     We jaunted north into Troy to show the girls the house my grandmother grew up in during World War I.

This is the view from Gram’s childhood front porch.

Mt. Monadnock is beautiful year round but in the fall the air seems to crystallize around her!

The crab apples were ripe!

 I love country roads!

Autumn moonrise!

I hope you enjoyed leaf peeping with us!

Autumn Trek Pt.7: Long Journey Home

      Since seven is the number of completion I end the tale of my autumn trek with this post.

Monday morning I awoke and took breakfast with my son in the dining commons at VFCC. Aftrewards Joe invited me to his Isaiah class. Since I had his professor 23 years ago I thought it would be fun to see how things had changed. Professor Brubaker did not disappoint! I had an awesome time learning about the OAN’s (oracles against the nations). Then my son and I went to chapel together.

     God has brought Psalm 23 to me over and over again for the last three months. Just before I left on my trek an old friend sent me an e-mail detailing a portion of the Psalm. In the chapel service a message in tongues and an interpretation reminded us that “we were not to fear evil because God was with us. His rod and staff would comfort us on the journey!”

     I learned many years ago that there are no coincidences. God is teaching me something through this Psalm.

      As I drove out of the parking lot at Valley Forge Christian College I thought about all the things I learned in my autumn trek:

1. I learned that life is supposed to follow a rhythm a slow, constant, and intentional rhythm.

2. I learned that when you follow the rhythm other people may not appreciate it. It will go against their rushing spirit.

3. I learned that slow, constant, and intentional can make you just as tired as fast, intermittent, and unplanned but that the satisfaction level of slow and constant is far greater.

4. I learned that God is in charge of the schedule. Not me!

     So following the leading of the Spirit I stopped at Valley Forge National Park on my way out of PA for pictures:          The George Washington Chapel

The Chapel Inside

George Washington’s Headquarters

I also made one more stop on the way home in Sleepy Hollow, New York:

 And of course I had to walk out a creepy path which the town calls its public park.

Can you feel the Headless Horseman on this path. Of course only in Sleepy Hollow would a walk in the public park lead you to a cemetery! No kidding!

Needless to say, I didn’t stay very long in Sleepy Hollow. My long journey home ended at eight and by ten P.M. I was in bed getting my Zz’s for staff meeting the next morning.

What did you discover from my autumn trek?

Fallready?

      Wow! Did that summer blow by or what? It seems like just yesterday I was laying down the raised beds in the pseudo-Elizabethan garden and trimming the rose bushes out of the apple tree. Could it possibly be two months since I went to Maine and

lamented that I couldn’t stay for Moxie Day?

     I’m not ready for fall! Autumn cannot  be here! Yet all the signs point to it.

    Tina and I dropped the girls off to college last week. Joe starts his classes at Valley Forge today. So the autumn hush has returned

     to the world. This tell-tale rhythm, of things slowing down as the kids are once again occupied with their adult lives, smacks of the changing season. 

     The summer flowers fade. The bees grow quiet as the evenings turn cool. The golden rod  explodes its sniffly pollen into the chilly breezes that have replaced the summer wind. Mom and Uncle Tom sound like trumpet swans as the evenings tickle their noses and throats with yellow dust that blows in waves across the town. In every roadside crack and crevice autumn flowers poke their noses and heads forth to let us know that the time of dying is here again.

    I know fall is here because that sense of nostalgic hope is back too. It comes as things wilt and pass away, that acknowledgement that this is how it’s supposed to be…the constant ebbing and flowing tide of life. The season makes me look back with longing for what was and forward to what will lie ahead when winter’s grip lays dormant the land I have only just begun to work.

    I am not ready for the season change, but I know it’s time has come. I am laying up the winter sauce and blanching out the beans and squash. The smell of boiling butternut, oregano, basil, garlic, and stewing tomatoes fills every nook and crevice in our kitchen.

     A week ago I was not even aware of any of these things. I may have passed them all by and never once thought of them as the signs of summer’s end. I probably could have forgotten that school, golden rod, or stewing tomatoes meant the beginning of fall. It’s been nice enough that I could have convinced myself that summer had no end… or at the very least it was not near. But here in New England there is one sign none of us can ignore; As certain as the robin means spring or snow fly signals winter, in New England it is the leaves that tell us the time has come. It’s why we call it FALL.

The Twelve Ways of Fall

     Just like there are twelve days of Christmas there are twelve ways of fall. Did you know that? Probably not because I just made it up on the drive to my computer! Dear reader here it is for the first time in print, “The Twelve Ways of Fall”.

      “Oh the first way y’ know fall is here”, My true love said to me.

       “The Canadian Geese start flying in a v”

       “Oh the second way y’know fall is here,” My true love said to me “school bells start ringing and Canadian geese start flying in a v.”

   “Oh the third way y’know fall is here.” My true love said to me

“trees change their colors, school bells start ringing, and Canadian geese start flying in a v.”

    “Oh the fourth way y’know fall is here,” My true love said to me

“Gram makes her jelly, trees change their colors, school bells start ringing, and Canadian geese start flying in a v.”

    “Oh the fifth way y’know fall is here,” My true love said to me

“WALMAAAAAART’S CHRISTMAAAAS  AISLE!!!!!!!”

“Gram makes her jelly, trees change colors, school bells start ringing, and Canadian geese start flying in a v.”

    “Oh the sixth way y’know fall is here,” My true love said to me,

“Friends bring zucchini, WALAAART’S CHRISTMAAAS AISLE! Gram makes jelly, trees change colors, school bells start ringing, and Canadian geese start flying in a v.”“Oh the seventh way y’know fall is here,” My true love said to me

“people go to craft fairs, friends bring zucchini, WALMAAART’S CHRISTMAAAS AISLE! Gram makes jelly, trees change colors, school bells start to ring, and Canadian geese start flying in a v.” “Oh the eighth way y’know fall is here,” My true love said to me “pumpkins in the fields, people go to craft fairs, friends bring zucchini, WALAAART’S CHRISTMAAAS AISLE!  Gram makes jelly, trees change colors, school bells start to ring, and Canadian geese start flying in a v.”

 “Oh the ninth way y’know fall is here,” My true love said to me ” morbid decorations, pumpkins in the fields, people go to craft fairs, friends bring zucchini, WALMAART’S CHRISTMAAAS AISLE, Gram makes jelly, trees change colors, school bells start to ring, and Canadian geese start flying in a v.”

     “Oh the tenth way y’know fall is here,” My true love said to me

“people pick their apples, morbid decorations, pumpkins in the fields, people go to craft fairs, friends brings zucchini, WALMAAARTS CHRISTMAAAAS AISLE! Gram makes jelly, trees change color, school bells start to ring, and Canadian geese start flying in a v.”

     “Oh the eleventh way y’know fall is here,” My true love said to me “acorns start to falling, people pick their apples, morbid decorations, pumpkins in the fields, people go to craft fairs, friends brings zucchini, WALMAAARTS CHRISTMAAAAS AISLE! Gram makes jelly, trees change color, school bells start to ring, and Canadian geese start flying in a v.”

     “Oh the twelfth way y’know fall is here,” My true love said to me (big breath)  “Grampa starts his raking, acorns start to falling, people pick their apples, morbid decorations, pumpkins in the fields, people go to craft fairs, friends brings zucchini, WALMAAARTS CHRISTMAAAAS AISLE! Gram makes jelly, trees change color, school bells start to ring, and Canadian geese start flying in a v.”

     I love the fall! What are some ways your family celebrates autumn?