Monday, October 29, 2007

Autumn Trail


I want to tell you what hills are like in October
when colors gush down mountainsides
and little streams are freighted with a caravan of leaves,
I want to tell you how they blush and turn in fiery shame


and joy,

how their love burns with flames consuming and terrible
until we wake one morning and woods are like a smoldering

plain --

a glowing caldron full of jewelled fire;
the emerald earth a dragon's eye
the poplars drenched with yellow light
and dogwoods blazing bloody red.
Travelling southward earth changes from gray rock to green velvet.

Margaret Walker
Excerpt from October Journey

(Pictures taken on the Sudden Tract Trail south of Cambridge ON)

12 comments:

  1. Love the beech (?) leaves backlit against the blue!
    I'm glad you're out enjoying this fine weather!

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  2. Anonymous8:15 pm GMT-4

    looks like an amazing place to be during the October month! Great photos my friend!

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  3. What beautiful photos! I can just feel and smell the crisp fall air!

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  4. Oh that was lovely! Both the poem and the pictures. A beautiful combination!

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  5. Awesome photos and words. Isn't autumn a marvelous time? All of the trees are transformed and dress in the colorful gowns. Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed my visit.

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  6. I think we're all out enjoying the last of the autumn colour.

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  7. What beautiful words..and pictures.

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  8. Just beautiful Ruth!

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  9. Beautiful shots and beautiful words!

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  10. Ruth! Your pictures are breathtaking.

    Scrolling down I spotted the picture of the Harris Hawk on that father's head. Yikes! I love the explanation about cactus-perching because I was immediately thinking - "that guy just had a crainiectomy."

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  11. Wonderful pictures and words. I don't know why... but this fall is just super gorgeous to me. I think it is the best ever. (I probably say that every year...)

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  12. Nina- Maybe next year I will work on my tree identification skills. It likely is a beech. This was a Carolinian forest.

    Monarch- It was a great fall trail with the boardwalk built over the marsh. There were lots of mosquito warnings posted for summer users!

    Peggy- It was a perfect fall day for sights and smells and sounds!

    Rondi- Thanks. The poet is an African American from the south, but she described fall beautifully.

    Mary from ON- Fall is my favourite time of year (along with spring, summer and winter ;-))

    AC- Yes, your nice photo shows your area still has some colour, although we have had no snow flakes yet.

    Ginger, Jayne, Kerri...
    Thanks for commenting. Glad you enjoyed the beauty too.

    Cathy- I saw a documentary on Harris Hawks this weekend. They stand on each other forming a bird totem when hunting as a group. This increases their visual field. Very interesting hawks.

    Jennifer- It is the most beautiful fall because you are blogging! Bloggers are always looking for something lovely to share and I think they find more beauty than the average observer.

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