These days I feel as though I am always rushing about, attempting in vain to complete the long list of tasks awaiting my attention – racing the close of the day, or the end of the year. Now I find myself in mid-October! How did 2014 grow so old so quickly? And I am frantically tying up loose ends or beginning last-minute projects with the hope that the year will conclude productive.
As hectic as things are now, I did have the chance recently to spend a relaxing week in the mountains of the Monongahela Forest with my husband, drinking tea on the porch and watching Autumn dance in across the hills. The evocative colors of the changing leaves never fail to stir the imagination with their vivid hues. The warm sun remembers Summer; a hint of frost foreshadows Winter; and for a moment we stand between with the sweet scent of fallen leaves and the last brilliant bloom of marigolds and asters before the first hard frost. Inspiration lies in abound, and I am ready with my camera, so that when the bleak shades of snow and overcast sky dominate, I can remember the radiance of these months and create!
 For some reason, the birds have left untouched these enticing clusters of red berries. (Dolly Sods Wilderness, WV) |
 The birds have scavenged most of the sunflower seeds, and the dry heads are left to rattle in the wind. |
 This little bumble bee does not need a reminder that the last of the year’s pollen will not remain long on the marigold! |
 Last year’s squash seeds carelessly tossed into the garden produced a bountiful harvest, whites and greens, warty oranges and sunny yellows. |
 A aspen leaf fallen in the path wrought in gold and gems. |
 I was lucky enough to visit the garden before the critters ate the last of the fall raspberries. A delicious treat! |
 An oak leaf succumbs to the lessening light, and orange overtakes the summer’s green. |
 Once a hibiscus flower, this dried pod delvers its seeds for next year’s blooms. |
 A leaf floats in the shallows of Loyalsock Creek. The clear water under the October sun is inviting, and were it a tad bit warmer, my toes would welcome a quick dip. |
 The flowers on the lavender have bloomed and the petals since fallen, leaving behind purple, fragrant nubs. We gather bouquets of the stalks to dry upside down – aromatic sachets for closets and drawers. |
 An insect explores the season’s battered petals. |
 A grasshopper rests on a pumpkin leaf. A light frost hit the night after this photo was taken, and by the next day all the pumpkin leaves had wilted. |
 The fuchsia zinnia flowers spread their petals in the waning October afternoon. |
 Speckled ferns crisscross along a hiking path. |
 A flying insect (fly? bee? wasp?) settles on the petal-less tansy. |
 Still vibrant, the marigolds have grown large and bushy over the summer, and now at the end of the season flood the garden walk. |
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