Fall is the time of the year when little animals scurry inside for protection from the cold. In my house that’s out of the frying pan into the fire because I have a very fierce very large orange cat. He will even bring creatures in from the outside before they have the illusion that they’re seeking warmth and safety in my house.

In the summertime I can’t bear to touch wool. But once fall rolls around yarn is beckoning and I can’t wait to run beautifully colored yarn through my fingers.

I’d been enjoying the reluctance of the leaves to change color

smiling with the shades of green that suggested summer wasn’t over

siding with the hickories that indulged my lingering

don’t fall for the hype, they insisted, sit tight in our shade.

You can keep your vapid oak leaves

Vibrance gone before they leap

Tumble, wither, crack, crumble

Bittersweet decor takes center stage

Blossoms of disparate colors

Yellow, red, invasive baubles

Like a tree, we are composed of many growth rings.

Together, they form our human existence.

The present is that outer layer ~ the now.

However, we are built upon those many layers of the past.

The Summer Folk go.

The Student Folk come.

We chase the deer off all the same.

The cling-clang of the wires up the aluminum masts of the yachts in the river fade away as we walk up Acoaxet Road. It’s morning, but already hot, and the softened tar of the street burns the soles of my bare feet as we are on our way to Elephant Rock Beach on the Atlantic.

Were the colors this vibrant

When I was getting ready for returning guests?

Planning meals..

Beds for sleeping...

Beds for returning perenials

This time of fire in the early evening sky

Summer has rolled up like the hay bales in the field

and is slipping out.