Fall Colors

The return of sunshine yesterday highlighted the hues that autumn has brought to the woods surrounding my house. From the deck running most of the length of the back of my house, I look north across a pond perhaps a hundred feet in diameter surrounded by trees of every variety, many of them twice the height of my split-level house. They are now in full color, ranging from brown through maroon, red, pink, orange, yellow, and green. They contrast with the red impatiens, planted in flower boxes all along the deck rail, that are still blooming fiercely as if insisting that their red color, leaning toward purple, must dominate. The vista is spectacular, especially as wind sends leaves twirling to the ground.

One of the principal reasons I bought this house several years ago was the stunning view from the deck. I spend as much time as I can there. Weather permitting, I eat all my meals out there. When it is warm enough (it’s never too warm for me), I read there, glancing up from my book regularly to drink in the beauty surrounding me. Alas, as the weather grows colder, I am less and less able to relax on the deck due to my proclivity for warmth thanks to all my years in the tropics.

It makes me sad to remind myself that soon all those leaves will fall to the ground, leaving the trees bare and skeletal. Dark, cold nights will be longer than the cold, bare days. My least favorite time of year is upon me. I comfort myself that Christmas, my favorite holiday, will arrive with the onset of winter. Then will come the long, cold months of January, February, and March before hope returns with the gradual warming of April.

But before all that come the glorious days of colorful fall. I will enjoy them to the hilt.