Autumn Has Arrived

Autumn, my favorite season - full of color and scents quite distinct to this time of year, arrived at

5:05 AM - I was up and about. 

beginnings of the 2011 foliage color change

I did not see any difference, though; if there was any, because it was still very dark outside.  Today I heard the clock chime seven times; just about the moment I could look out the window to witness the earliest of the morning's glimmer.  A grey and overcast sky filtered the sun; so the light was dim, but  apparent.  Mornings emerge later and later, evenings occur earlier and earlier.  Days are now, officially, getting shorter much, much faster.

There is still plenty of green (pastures, trees) with just a hint of color change.  As each day passes, the summer's colors will transform into a new palette that represents autumn.  I constantly watch my surroundings so that I will not miss a single value shift.  My mind will record those moments for future reference, when I desire to reach back after the season has lapsed; to replay the colors.  Autumn passes much too quickly for my taste. I will appreciate the memories.

Fall is the shortest season in terms of its visual aspect - its beginning still holding onto summer and its ending more like winter.  I make a determined effort to embrace that small piece of time which  totally feels like fall.

The grey sky released, first, a shower which advanced to a rain - calming and peaceful.  The air harbored a scent of decline - earthy and pleasant - natural for the season.

I curled up, under a blanket, in the recliner, feet up, and just gazed out the open living room window to a near perfect picture of our farm.  The Blue Ridge Mountains, mottled with floating clouds, ultimately disappeared from view. The near trees exhibit a yellow tinge. The distant tress outlining the pastures grew dark, a deep, black-like green; enhancing the jades of the fields. Calling birds flew into the picture, and then out.   The soft sound of the falling rain put me into a trance-like demeanor.   I was enveloped in my own world, my own tranquility.

I am in Utopia.