October

And fall is here. That season between the bounty and light of summer when everything changes in preparation for the winter sleep. There are still warm sunny days, only shorter and nights are cooler and longer. The sky is bluer, the colours bright with the hues of autumn. Oranges, yellows, reds, amethyst, and gold. We have abandoned our frilly pinks and opulent purples of summer. Time for boots and warm sweaters, tea, good books in front of a fire and contemplation. Soon nature will be stripped almost bare. Time to slow down.

“O hushed October morning mild,
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
Tomorrow’s wind, if it be wild,
Should waste them all.
The crows above the forest call;
Tomorrow they may form and go.
O hushed October morning mild,
Begin the hours of this day slow.
Make the day seem to us less brief.
Hearts not averse to being beguiled,
Beguile us in the way you know.
Release one leaf at break of day;
At noon release another leaf;
One from our trees, one far away.
Retard the sun with gentle mist;
Enchant the land with amethyst.
Slow, slow!
For the grapes’ sake, if they were all,
Whose leaves already are burnt with frost,
Whose clustered fruit must else be lost —
For the grapes’ sake along the wall.”

Robert Frost