A Warm Welcome to Cool Autumn

 

(Scene from our deck-the play of light and fog in autumn)

Now that I’ve bid farewell to summer, I thought it would be appropriate to say a happy hello to autumn.  Hello, autumn!

Fall has always been my favorite time of year.  I have never seen it as an ending.  For me, it symbolized a fresh start—the beginning of a new school year, full of promise and new possibilities.  New pencils, new teachers, and a new cold-weather outfit that I always wore on the first day of school no matter how hot it was.  So the start of school for me is forever associated with the smell of new wax on schoolroom floors and the scratchy prickle of wool on my hot and sweaty neck.

And the cool, crisp autumn air makes me frisky as a new pup (even now, as an old pup).  I always feel as though I’ve been reborn in fall.   I love, too, snuggling under quilts piled so heavy you can barely move and the smell of thick soup or stew simmering in the crockpot.

So here is my photographic ode to fall.  I should confess: most of these are from last year.  We had every intention of hiking the hills this weekend and sharing what we witnessed with you, my kind readers.  But I had a small unexpected injury that has curtailed my hiking for a while.  So I hope you don’t mind a recycled, year-old fall!  ( Most of these were taken at our home).  For some really amazing fall pictures, be sure to check out Blue Ridge Blog.  My friend Wesley has some lovely ones, too, at Blue Ridge Dreaming  ( like this one.)

Welcome, autumn.  We’re so glad you’re here.

Our back woods at the end of the day

The great big maple in back of our house

The same maple from a different perspective

Dogwood and a golden tree illuminated

Leaves seen close.

Bright red berries of our mountain ash tree

Yes, the sky really was that blue yesterday!

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