Flowers of Autumn

It’s recently been quiet around the pond. Breaking the silence, a dozen mallards splashed down yesterday. They puttered around in the shallows, grazing on submerged weeds, finally settling down in the tall pond side grass for the night. They took off at sunrise without so much as a solong. Back onto the avian highway south. Some of our local winged critters have already left for warmer regions, too. The heron has fled, thus relieving our fish of the horrifying summer long prospect of becoming raptor poop. Hummingbirds have abandoned the tempting sweets of our hanging baskets. And the monarch butterfly parade has finally passed until the return trip next spring. Last evening three does foraged at the side of the pond for acorns and pine cones before passing the porch and fading into the woods.

The steady bombardment of acorns on the deck and roof of the house has become a slow drumbeat. Continued bounty for the squirrels and chipmunks to gather for the forthcoming months of sparse times. When Mother Nature dons the cool grays and whites of winter.

But Autumn continues to increasingly occupy the stage. The maples are changing from earthy tones to more brilliant reds and golds. The tupellos’ shiny reds are in full color. And the oaks are bright yellow.

As someone said “Autumn is like a second spring where every leaf is a flower.” A nice thought to end to a quiet October evening.