Thursday, November 18, 2010

Novembaura

I have a good reason to discuss a change in the season .. an autumn amble in the country, along the beach, in the forest, through the heart of the affair ..

Over the past months I have really learned to appreciate photographs revealing the soothing consolation of nature in all her glory .. but, most particularly I've revelled in simply walking through the beauty of life’s marvellous creation admiring stunning views and thoughtfully considering the variety of organisms that often we take for granted
 .. each single plant and animal exists for a purpose or has developed for a reason and that interconnectedness of life teaches us so much about ourselves - if only we listened to the sound of nature's song ..


Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.
~Albert Camus~

It’s my younger brother’s birthday today .. he recently married in Alabama in the southern United States and I was inspired by the natural setting of the wedding to capture the ambience of the wooded hills and valleys of this region .. so, I took a stroll in the November sunshine and happened upon some exquisite sights ..



Winter is an etching,
spring a watercolour,
summer an oil painting
and autumn a mosaic of them all.
~Stanley Horowitz~

Autumn and spring have always been my favourite seasons, though summer runs a close second, probably due to their association with that feeling of change and rebirth ..

I’m patently not a winter person – oh, I’ve enjoyed a few snowy days and holidays here and there – mainly visiting friends and family in Niagara Falls and Toronto, but the cold isn’t in my blood .. I need the sun like a leaf needs a tree, like honey needs the bee .. and that sense of adapting to new surroundings and unfamiliar situations brings a weird and wonderful peace to me, I guess I enjoy the liminal consciousness of transition ..
 


Change is a measure of time and, in the autumn, time seems speeded up
What was is not and never again will be; what is is change
~Edwin Teale~

I’ve always loved living in a sun drenched environment, whether Hilton Head Island in South Carolina, Mallorca in the Mediterranean or Turkey on the Aegean coast, and felt I never got enough of the heat and light it gives so freely while surviving the damp drizzle of Britain, no matter how much I belong there or how much I adore the windy coastal spray on the western mainland of Scotland or treasure the evenings I spent wandering the wet pavements of London streets to a museum or jazz club with a friend at my side ..

Each season brings its own joys and distinct gifts, and autumn with its myriad of colours on display illustrates the cycle of change, the variance and phases of being, the passing of time and the transitory nature of life .. all things pass, and we grow or die ..

Continuous migration a change of the season
A past full of memory a future unknown
The spring brings hope
The autumn leaves us with memories alone
~Memory Man~ KW

Life will be, for me, a continual adventure, wherever I travel, wherever I roam, that far off horizon still calls me across time and distance to the place that I still call home ..

My heart tells me how far I have come, the obstacles I have faced, the love I have shared and the truths I have learned .. my head reminds me of the lesson that no matter what came before there is always something else to look forward to ..










Autumn is a time of harvest, as we gather together to share the fruits of labour and rejoice in good company we recall the efforts that have seen us through another year, and reap the crop we have sown in love and friendship, for what is more important than holding on to the ties that bind and the dreams that survive .. at this time of Thanksgiving we remember the struggles and the rewards, and think of those closest to us and the shared promise of tomorrow ..
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Autumn is the eternal corrective. It is ripeness and color and a time of maturity; but it is also breadth, and depth, and distance. What man can stand with autumn on a hilltop and fail to see the span of his world and the meaning of the rolling hills that reach to the far horizon? ~Hal Borland~

And nothing beats a sunrise seen from the balcony and a sunset over the sea, the gulf or the bay, the ocean waves providing a reflection of thoughts that lead to the end of the earth .. every ripple a memory and each wave an ending .. but every new beginning starts with the dawn of a season of renewal .. and hope is the ray of light that shines through the clouds to light our way across the sea of change ..

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