Autumn Moments

I have read enough blogs by people my age to know there is a lot of appreciation out there for the autumn season. I have always liked autumn because my birthday falls in October. As a young person, I loved football games, Halloween, penny loafers, candied apples, and hay rides on farm wagons snuggled under a blanket, hopefully with a sweetie. I was not unaware though that autumn also meant a dying away, a last hurrah before cold and dismal winters.

The town parade here is always the third Saturday in October because that is peak leaf color time. This year the color has been a bit odd. We have had plenty of moisture but no frost. The trees are changing colors, but the shades are different. Instead of outrageous oranges and raging reds, many of the trees are staying green longer or fading into shades of copper, rust, and a tarnished gold. They are still beautiful in their own way. A few stunners are using the brillant colors too, and they peek around the edges of the quieter hues of town trees. Isn't this tree a flaming shade?

My friends and I are trying to take moments to soak up the autumn colors and moods. It has been busy for all of us with trips, visiting children and grandchildren, aging parents, illness, and varied situations. Yesterday and again today my friends and I took an hour out of the day, drove through Sonic and then took our drinks to sit at Municipal Park ogling the trees dressed in their finest. Today, not a leaf stirred. Tomorrow rain comes and we fear the leaves will be beaten off limbs, that our days are numbered for the glories of this season.