P. D. James said, "It was one of those perfect English autumnal days which occur more frequently in memory than in life."
I know I'm guilty of looking back on events through a romantic, rose colored haze. When I remember the autumn just passed, I will think about the crisp air, the gentle warmth of the sun, and incredible color everywhere. I will remember the last tomatoes and the first sweet apples, the pungent scent of leaf smoke and the impossible colors of an autumn sunrise. I will relive the cautious hopefulness I felt when we elected a new president, and enjoy the remaining days left to my much beloved old cat, Voodoo.
O Autumn, laden with fruit, and stained
with the blood of the grape, pass not, but sit
Beneath my shady roof; There thou may'st rest,
And tune thy jolly voice to my Fresh pipe;
And all the daughters of the year shall dance!
Sing now the lusty song of fruit and flowers.
~ William Blake
with the blood of the grape, pass not, but sit
Beneath my shady roof; There thou may'st rest,
And tune thy jolly voice to my Fresh pipe;
And all the daughters of the year shall dance!
Sing now the lusty song of fruit and flowers.
~ William Blake
The Sussex lanes were very lovely in the autumn...spendthrift gold and glory of the year-end...earth scents and the sky winds and all the magic of the countryside which is ordained for the healing of the soul.
~ Monica Baldwin
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
I'm glad I prepared this post a few days ahead. My 'photography' computer is going into intensive care tomorrow. Not sure when I'll have it back.
64 comments:
Great post.. I love that last photo.
Beautiful post! You nailed the emotions.
Tell your computer to get well soon.
Cameron
I am ever in awe of photos I see on the blogs I visit and these knocked me over Marnie! The one with the steps, WOW. but then the berries and the leaves in water (?), FANTASTIC. What a beautiful post. I hope your computer isn't down long, we want more of these!!
Beautiful post, Marnie, It's been nice to read your wonderful tributes to autumn, so I don't have to dwell on our bare trees and cold temps so much.
I'm so sorry to hear about Voodoo. It is never easy...
Great selection of poems.
This hits a soft spot..."It is ripeness and color and a time of maturity; but it is also breadth, and depth, and distance."
Lovely photos also.
Wonderful photos... and enjoyed your post as well. There is just something so nostalgic about the changing of seasons.
Hi Darla, those stairs are interesting, aren't they?
Hi Cameron, I'm lost without that computer. I hope it doesn't have a fatal illness.
Marnie
Kathleen, that is very nice of you to say.
Hi Dog Geek, sometimes I think about not getting any more pets. It is just too hard to lose one you have had for almost 17 years.
Marnie
Hi Patsi, sometimes a line from a poem just clicks with an individual. It is an amazing feeling when someone expresses a thought or a sight that we understand so perfectly.
Marnie
Hi Connie, you put it so well. Change is always nostalgic I guess.
Marnie
Such beautiful photos and quotes. Autumn is by far my favourite season, but so short. I'm always sad to see it go.
Marnie, your photos as always are stunning! As I have said before, it takes a real artist to be able to 'see' what will make a great picture. And I am always amazed at the selectiom of poems and quotes you chose to go with your pics. I love the line, "occur more frequently in memory than life". I'm guilty of that with many things. :)
It is so sad to see a beloved pet decline. My wish for you is to be able to store lots of memories.
Beautiful post!
I hope your photography computer is out of ICU soon!
Your photography is crisp, clear, and invites you to read the story that goes along. Your style of writing is very professional and easy to read. Today's post spoke to me as I always look back on the season of the previous years and it's almost always the most comforting thoughts.
You have a beautiful blog and I'm glad to get to know ya.
It's so true what you say, we want to remember the good and so the bad just fades from memory. Lovely photos, especially the leaves in the water.
Hey Amy, I feel the same. The weather is so perfect and nature outshines herself for this brief time.
Hi Beckie, that was my favorite line too. Nothing wrong with feeling like that. What can be gained by dwelling on the negative?
Marnie
Hi Beadedtail, me too. Machines are so annoying!
Hey Anna, glad to get acquainted with you too. It is very kind or you to say those things. Thank you.
Marnie
Hi Cindy, you are right. I look back on most of my years of gardening with good memories. The terrible drought of 2005 might be one exception.
Marnie
What a sweet post. I really do like the heartfelt ones that talk with so much melancholy. The pictures fit perfectly. I hope your computer gets fixed soonest.
Marnie, Was you or Rose that said your dad grows gerberas? I think it was you because I seem to remember the sweet autumn. I just bought a few sale discounted and am wondering if I should winter them inside. Does your father do this? Any tips?
Beautiful post and photos!
And I'm so sorry about Voodoo.
Hey Tina, sorry he's never had gerberas and neither have I. Must be Rose.
Thanks Carla, this illness really is killing me.
Marnie
Thanks! I have to devise a way to keep from getting you two confused:)
For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together. For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad.
~Edwin Way Teale
A good autumn quote I discovered recently and another blog...
I love the last photo of the stone stairway...looks like the "Stairway to Heaven." Wonderful choice of quotes to go with your photos; I enjoy P.D. James' mysteries--she's described our memories perfectly.
I can commiserate with your computer going in for intensive care; I just got mine back after 8 weeks! Actually, I had to get a new tower or whatever the main working part is, but luckily the computer tech was able to recover my hard drive with all my documents and photo files. I hope yours recovers sooner!
Beautiful photo of the leaves in the water. It's a wonderful image.
Dear Marnie,
Thank you for sharing these incredible images. The colorful leaves in the water spoke to me. I feel the sadness of these end days for you and Voodoo.
When my old cat died I decided since she was my first pet she would be my last. In her 17 years she was with me many other pets came; dogs, cats, birds, fish, hamsters and even a snake. Somehow she was able to tolerate all of them. It has been 15 years and I still miss her. She was (is) my friend.
Sending warm thoughts and special hugs.
Namaste,
Sherry
There is nothing wrong is keeping good memories alive. I will have to post some oldies to keep me sane through the winter...
Hey Marnie,
Another great post with superb photos to capture the season! The one of the leaves is very very fine, and I too, really like the one with the staircase path. You sure get out to some interesting places, unlike me, lol.
Sorry to hear about Voodoo, but keep the positive memories foremost first during these last days. It's really hard to lose a loved and trusted friend like that...
Our Rolly will likely be going very soon (he's almost 17), and we miss the dog he was in his earlier years, but arthritis and canine dementia have transformed him into a shell of his former self. Alas, the end result of living is dying....
Hey Marnie,
Another great post with superb photos to capture the season! The one of the leaves is very very fine, and I too, really like the one with the staircase path. You sure get out to some interesting places, unlike me, lol.
Sorry to hear about Voodoo, but keep the positive memories foremost first during these last days. It's really hard to lose a loved and trusted friend like that...
Our Rolly will likely be going very soon (he's almost 17), and we miss the dog he was in his earlier years, but arthritis and canine dementia have transformed him into a shell of his former self. Alas, the end result of living is dying....
Hi Me, an excellent quote, I had never heard that one. Thank you.
Hey Rose, I know, I'm lost without the computer. I've never read a P D James novel, need to one and see if I like it.
Marnie
Good morning SweetBay, The colors were so intense on those leaves and the water gave them a sheen.
Hi Q, over my lifetime I've lost so many cats and dogs. Their lifespan is so brief. I'm tired of the sadness.
Marnie
Hi RamblingWoods, you're right, nothing wrong with oldies. I have a few topics saved for winter--not many.
Marnie
Hi IVG, I'm so sorry you're facing a sad time with Rolly. Cats and dogs are so giving of love and loyalty. You can't help but love them back.
Marnie
Just stunning photos Marnie...and our dread of the fall wisping away to winter, is so apparent in all we write and see up here in the Northland. I too lament over it's demise. But at least this year I don't have to venture out in it...I can stay home and play! Yippee!
And yes I have an outlet for keys, just lemme know what you need.
sharon
Oh, Marnie....so beautiful!
Marnie, what lovely pictures. The first one most especiaylly. :-)-Randy
Hi Marnie,
Thanks so much for visiting my blog and I appreciate your comment about my big cat, Brody and my art! Your blog is so beautiful...your photos exquisite.
Just browsing through your blog briefly, I can see we share many similar things, the love of wild birds, cats, wildlife and nature and more. I have been fortunate to see so many birds this year that I have managed to capture with my camera...I refer to my photos when I work on my art. I'm going to take more time soon to see more of your blog. Even your name Lilacs and Roses is similar to my other blog, Shells and Roses!
Oh, and the "Leg Lamp" ... there is a house in town that we pass by every day and they prominently display the Leg Lamp in a window every December!
Stop by again and I will be a frequent visitor to yours.
Nan
ps. thinking of Voodoo...knowing how difficult this is...
there is a quote I try to keep in mind at times like this:
If we continue to love the one we lose, we never lose the one we love.
What a beautiful post today Marnie. The photos were such a nice compliment to the quotes. I hope your computer gets well soon. :)
Hi Sharon, don't we get all whimpy as we age? We laughed at ice storms when we were younger;)
You're lucky, you can go into sort of a selective hibernation.
Marnie
Hi Balisha, thank you, I was just at your site admiring the decorations your group did for the church.
Hi Randy, thank you, very nice of you to say that. Fall outdid herself this year;)
Marnie
Hi Nancy, I love that leg lamp. One of my favorite movies! That was so my childhood--except for the beebee gun of course. I stuck my tongue to a sled.
I'm so glad you stopped by, I really admired your art. And loved your cats. We do have a lot in common. I just wish I had some small talent painting. Thanks for your kind words about my Voodoo.
Marnie
Hi PerennialGardener, computers are wonderful until they stop working. Then they become a royal pain in the patootie. I do NOT want to have to set up another new one and transfer all my stuff!!!!!!!
Marnie
Nice pictures and really really neat quotes. How do you do that? Either you have a fabulous memory or..... I remember reading PD James wonderful detective stories years ago. She worked as a nurse in a morgue or something before she took up writing as I recall.
Hi Troutbirder. I have never read a PD James mystery novel. I should. Working in a morgue would give you lots of ideas for murder mysteries.
Marnie
You have the most beautiful garden! Look at that-wow-- such great photos and even better quotes.
I love those concord grapes too. I hope i have better luck with mine next year.
Autumn brings panoramas of breathtaking colors of russets and gold! Beautiful quotes that describe the season. Wonderful images!
Your beloved Voodoo will be missed no doubt. Just think of how lucky you have been to have her for so many years. Wow...
This time of year can be melancholy, especially when you are in the process of losing a great friend.
This post is beautiful. I could stare at the stairway for some time. Thinking about who and why they traverse this stair. It seems to draw me in.
Like Lisa, I was taken by the staircase. So many emotions wrapped up in that metaphor. We are in a quandary about our own Miss Kitty back home in Florida. Do we bring her here and risk the wrath of our landlord, or do we let her live out out her few remaining days with our daughter back home? I'm hoping Miss Kitty proves to be tougher than I am and outlives our expectations. I miss her, though. She has seen me through a lot of "stuff." I hope your computer troubles are not long-lived, anyway. Thank you for some memorable words.
You have portayed my favourite season with great sensitivity.
Thank you. I enjoyed it very much, so wellillustrated with your beautiful photos.
I do hope your computer survives, plenty of fluids and lots of TLC should do the trick!
Beautiful! I really love that leaf photo and that fantastic set of steps up the hill!
Blake is one of my favorite poets and sometimes I wish I could've lived during his day. Have you seen any of his prints (relief etchings)?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Oberon,_Titania_and_Puck_with_Fairies_Dancing._William_Blake._c.1786.jpg
I hope your "'photography' computer" is soon out of "intensive care" and in full recovery.
Hi, It's my first-time visit. Your site is beautiful. Loved your photos.
I was intrigued by your title, Lilac and Roses.... two of my favourite flowers..... that's what drew me in.
Glad I came. Stop by sometime.
Marnie, Beautiful words and really superb photos to help tell the story. I took a look back at Part 1and liked that post, too. The yellow trees such a relaxig view.
Meems
What beautiful photos. I think P.D. James is right.
Hi Marnie, what a poignant post. The photography is astounding, all of it, and the captions are perfect. I will be thinking of your dear Voodoo, too.
Frances
Marnie, you've had so many wonderful comments, I'll just add that I'm thinking of you (oh, yeah, and you HAVE to read PD James! start with her old stuff, because there's a bit of a narrative with some of her characters--and you have YEARS of reading ahead of you! I'm so jealous!)
Beautifully done with the poetry, both written and photographic.~~Dee
As always, lovely photos!
~ Monica
Great photo of leaves on water ... as a hydrologist I approve of that image.
Beautiful quotes...and fantastic capture of the fallen leaves!
I can't remember an autumn with better color & better weather than this one. Usually I want to go somewhere to see the turning foliage, but there was no need this year, it was all around.
Hi Marnie. Great post. I see that I have missed a lot of great pics while I was away. Love the old "haunted house".
Hopefully, I'll be able to post later tonight.
Lisa
Wow, those are some great looking photoes! I love the first one you had; with the leaves reflecting in the water! really nice! Any how, enjoy this years fall and winter!
~Zach
A beautiful post, Marnie! Sorry to hear you have been without your computer! Hope you get it back and that it is well again too! :-) I love the "painterly" quality of that last photograph! But the grapes and leaves are wonderful, and the quotes as well.
Marie
Post a Comment