A mosaic
Autumn decorates our neighbor’s home, York County, September 2011.
“Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all.” —Stanley Horowitz
This quote captures the appeal of the year-end visual landscape, as dark lines edge and define the deepening colors, and the waning sunlight washes over everything with the impressionism of a watercolor. Autumn is a mosaic of the seasons in other ways, too. The first chilly days evoke the coziness of winter; the energizing beginnings of a new school year mimic the freshness of springtime, and the remaining days of warm sunlight lure us outdoors to enjoy a final taste of summer before freezing temperatures set in.
This blog was begun nearly five years ago in a fog of sorrow that hit during the fall, and each successive autumn since then has brought loss and worry and sadness. Yet despite the grief, nothing can taint the beauty of this season for me. The natural world passes into death or hibernation in splendid fashion, hinting of glory to come. Perhaps in the loveliness of autumn, our souls overhear a promise spoken in language our minds cannot fully comprehend. May we rejoice in the music even when the words lie just outside our grasp.
This post was first published seven years ago. Yet again, I find myself facing the coming winter in deep grief. But the beauty of autumn remains a solace.
The original post, comments and photo are linked, along with two other related posts, below. These links to related posts, and their thumbnail photos, do not appear in the blog feed; they are only visible when viewing the individual posts by clicking on each one. I have no idea why, nor do I know how they choose the related posts. That’s just the way WordPress does things.
Defeat Despair 
Very nice 🙂
Thank you, I’m glad you like it!
Good morning, Julia!
Yesterday, as I pressed on to finish some yard projects before everything freezes, I looked up and saw a neighbor’s tree sporting those same delightful colors shown in your photo. It reminded me of the gorgeous vistas of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. I miss those so much!
So I asked myself, why did I just plant four conifers?? Well, I think the green will be nice in the winter. I did plant a little Japanese maple earlier this year, so it will be interesting to see if it’s color changes much this autumn. So far, I’ve seen no change.
Thank you for sharing that bright beauty!
Susan, good luck with your Japanese maple. I planted a tiny one when I first moved in, and it must have disappeared quickly because there is no Japanese maple in my yard now. I do have some evergreens that have grown quite large now, and they are wonderful to have, especially in the winter. So it sounds like you don’t work out of New England anymore? Or are you just taking a temporary break from going there?
Julia, I hardly ever get back to New England. I still hope to get back there, but this season in my life is a busy one.
So it sounds as if you are now working mostly in Minnesota. I knew you had been doing that in recent years, but was not sure how much.