Autumn Abundance

Without reservation, I can declare that autumn is my absolutely favorite time of year. From the first crisp mornings to grabbing a jacket as I head out the door for the evening, the brisk air reinvigorates a world which grew stale under summer's blanket. I always look forward to the leaves bursting with brilliant colors and cannot imagine living in a region which does not participate in mother nature's autumnal show.

Throughout the afternoon, I snapped a few pictures of the North Carolina fall leaves

By my parents' house,

Near the post office,

And on the way home from the soccer field.

In my backyard, I noticed a bright yellow leaf and

A plant with brilliant red stems.

Humorously, I also spied the cactus which I have repeatedly tried to eradicate from my yard. After experiencing many painful run-ins while extracting the cactus from of the backyard, it has now taken root in the leaf pile behind our fence. Will this plant never die???


I also surprisingly ran across the last of the chili peppers in the garden I abandoned many summer weeks ago.


I must admit to feeling a sense of melancholy as the reds and golds depart leaving only spindly brown branches in the air. But, as Robert Frost reminds us,

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.