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Sunday, September 23, 2007

Welcome Autumn

We took a ride into the country after church today...well into the country and deep into the Fall festivities. An apple festival here, a mum festival there. How can anyone not take joy in all of Autumn's sweet riches? There are no words to inadequately thank all of you for all your many kindnesses of late...so, I hope to send you a hug through photos, quotations and poems. A warm seasonal hug of thanks. to all my blogging friends. Melissa? I will email you tomorrow...I send hugs aplenty! Welcome Autumn...you are here at last...here with your achingly beautiful colors, your crisp, cool nights, your clear, vibrant blue skies.
"But now in September the garden has cooled, and with it my possessiveness. The sun warms my back instead of beating on my head ... The harvest has dwindled, and I have grown apart from the intense midsummer relationship that brought it on." - Robert Finch

Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all. - Stanley Horowitz

The leaves fall, the wind blows, and the farm country slowly changes from the summer cottons into its winter wools. - Henry Beston, Northern Farm

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 Eliot

Lo! sweeten’d with the summer light, The full-juiced apple, waxing over-mellow, Drops in a silent autumn night. All its allotted length of days The flower ripens in its place, Ripens and fades, and falls, and hath no toil, Fast-rooted in the fruitful soil. - Alfred Lord Tennyson

To Autumn

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; Conspiring with him how to load and bless With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run; To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees, And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core; To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells With a sweet kernel; to set budding more, And still more, later flowers for the bees, Until they think warm days will never cease, For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store? Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find Thee sitting careless on a granary floor, Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind; Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep, Drows'd with the fume of poppies, while thy hook Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers: And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep Steady thy laden head across a brook; Or by a cyder-press, with patient look, Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they? Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,-- While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day, And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue; Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn Among the river sallows, borne aloft Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies; And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;

Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft; And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

-John Keats

Hugs,

Susie Q

24 comments:

Penny from Enjoying The Simple Things said...

Hi Sue! What a wonderful tribute to Autumn! The pictures are gorgeous! I have not yet made it to my favorite Apple Orchard. I plan on going this coming weekend. Our fall is just beginning to arrive with a few sumac and maples just starting to color.

I so enjoy your posts! I wish we were neighbors!
Penny

Anonymous said...

Oh Susie..nothing like that in the south. Loved all the pictures!Wished I was right in the middle of it all.

Andi said...

Oh Sue, I love your beautiful pictures of fall. I'm longing to see the color in the leaves and the apples and pumpkins. It doesn't look like I'll be traveling to where the seasons colors are this fall...maybe next year.

Thank you for your beautiful post.

JANET said...

Did you take all the pictures on your drive? Everything is so, so Autumn! It will be a while before fall arrives here, although the goldenrods are beginning to bloom, and the dogwoods are oh so faintly changing color - a bit early!

Carole Burant said...

Happy Autumn dear Sue!! It's no wonder this is my very favourite season, look at all those wonderfully bright colours!! Loved all the pictures and quotes, a perfect way to welcome in Autumn:-) xox

Q said...

Dear Sue,
Lovely. You showed the joys of Autumn. Apples, pumpkins and mums are so rich and bright.
Thank you.
Sherry

Rosemary said...

I love it all!!
Beautiful Fall pictures. Such fun.
Rosemary

Sheila said...

Delicious Autumn, the most wonderful season. Too bad it is never long enough. A few more months or so would suit me. Your pictures capture it beautifully..!

Melissa said...

I love the pictures! I think it's so fortunate that Anna Marie was born in the fall, with red hair, because it looks great when we take her picture with pumpkins and fallen leaves!

I can't wait until it gets cooler here - partly because our living room's AC unit went out this weekend, and partly because then it'll really feel like fall!

Mary said...

Dear Sue, Oh, how beautiful your photos are! And Keats, too -- my favorite poem about autumn. Thank you so much for a lovely tribute to the season!
xoxo,
Mary

Anonymous said...

love those pictures Sue. We always take a trip to the farm to pick apples too but it just wasn't cool enough this weekend to do it...not to mention Mitchell's coughing terrible....gotta love having asthma during fall and spring here in NJ.

Kari (GrannySkywalker) said...

You are so lucky you posted something today. You were mere hours away from "the e-mail" demanding you return to the world of blogging.
But now that you have, I'm willing to forgive you for making me wait. (I'm so generous like that, it's a gift).
Pictures were great by the way!

Sandi @the WhistleStop Cafe said...

Great Photos!
Thank you for sharing. We are still in the dog days of summer here.

Deb said...

Great post!
All the beauty of Autumn ... the perfect time for country drives...and the George Eliot quote is one of my favourite Autumn quotes (probably because it mentions birds) :-}

smilnsigh said...

Wow, what a lovely ride in the country you had! And what wonderful photos you took.

We went for a ride in the country too. But I guess we choose the wrong direction. Mostly some turning trees. Which were beautiful but... I'd like apple and mum festivals too.

Mari-Nanci

Sophie Honeysuckle said...

Wow-how fab are your photos?!! I love your new banner too!!xx

Greenie Gardens said...

Wow! Your photographs are just spectacular! Thanks for putting me in the fall mood. I personally just love pumpkins- you really did them justice.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful colors and pictures. This is my favorite time of year!

Tammy said...

Beautiful post...loved all the pictures...I was somewhat confused as to what one of those vegetables was...it is green and looks like a pumpkin crossed with a watermellon? What is that?

Dawn Bibbs said...

Oh wow, what BEAUTIFUL pictures. Now you've REALLY got me ready for fall. GOREGOUS!!!

BittersweetPunkin said...

These are all of my favorite things!! LOVE LOVE LOVE the photos!
Blessings,
Robin

Cheryl Wray said...

WOW!!!! LOVE those pictures!!!!

Gretchen said...

Gorgeous poetry and pictures. If I came to your blog hating autumn, by the time I left I would love it. As it is, I love it anyway. :)

Andrea Frazer said...

Now how in the world could you make all your blogging friends so inspired if you were busy decorating a 1940's cape mansion? Pfshawwww! You silly little rabbit!