A Seasonal Shift…

Summer’s shades of vibrant emerald green now mossy. The Vermont landscape, earthy. The palette has decidedly changed. Warm tones dictate the autumnal underpainting. The rolling hills prophesizing in shades of golden ochres and rich siennas. Maples boasting alizarin-colored leaves. Purple grasses sway in open pastures. Leaves crunching under foot. The gravel drive blanketed already.  A shift to the new Fall season is underway.

A gray sky supported a light breeze across the hilly acres. The influence of wildfires in Canada had drifted into our world. Cooler temps have also arrived. Like the blush of a teenager the panicles have transformed from white to a salmon red. Seemingly overnight the tall stalky hydrangeas had alerted us to a changing narrative.

Tour buses roll through the village regularly now. Pumpkins and corn stalks adorn the grand Woodstock Inn. Seasonal flowers in bright yellows and oranges highlight the many small businesses.  A logging truck brake’s squeal and complain as it slowed at the crosswalk to give tourists passage. Quintessential Vermont.

Blonde sands covered with smooth river rocks now exposed as the Ottauquechee River water recedes. Rugged beauty set to the symphony of the season. The vistas never disappoint, nor have I become weary of the visual feast. The comfort of nature. Dependable when not much else feels so.

A mist has hovered over the earth most days recently. Heavy, white and profuse. The mountains in a quiet silhouette. The cows at the farm just next door barely in view. Dark images ramble along a barbed fence.

I sat with my eldest granddaughter one recent weekend morning. We eagerly chatted while we waited for the hill just across the street to make itself known. A game we delighted in. Belle with the excitement of a 4-year-old provided the play by play of the dissipating mist. To see this exquisite world through her discovering and eager eyes was magical. She was anxious for the final reveal while I could have stayed simply in the moment…

                                           “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on,” –Robert Frost