Acts of Appreciation…

It has been a jaw-droppingly beautiful autumn here in central Massachusetts compared to last year.  The yellows are yellower, the golds more burnished and the crimsons redder.  It is just gorgeous out there.  Last year’s non-fall (the first bad fall that I can ever remember since moving to Massachusetts 30 years ago) taught me that I should not take the beautiful New England autumns for granted.  I love them so.

But the season is all but over for me.  Tomorrow I will be stuck inside for a while because I am going to have my left knee replaced.  This is a procedure that I should have had done at least a year ago but I have put it off.  I have gotten to the point where I can’t even remember what the simple act of getting up from a chair and walking across a room pain free is like.  So it is past time to go ahead and do it.  My doctor tells me that I can expect around a 70% improvement.  How they quantify that is beyond me, but I think a 70% improvement sounds pretty darn good nonetheless.  I will appreciate it!

So in four or five months, I am looking forward to getting back to one of the things I took for granted two or three years ago.  I’m talking about the nice walks in the woods that I used to take with my dog before my knee started dictating the way I would live my life.  We liked looking for those pleasant little surprises that nature lays at our feet…a little red mushroom, an elegant Lady Slipper, a stalwart stand of Indian Pipes, an array of pale green lichen lying on a fallen tree branch.

 

I plan on being back in Blogland in the not too distant future well before I am able to be up and out with my camera.  I have figured that my recovery time will give me a chance to get to some of those hundreds…What? Did I say HUNDREDS?  Silly me!  I mean thousands of unedited photos on my hard drive that have been knocking on my monitor and yelling at me in their most annoying little pixilated voices:

   “Pick me!”  “No, pick me!”  “No! I’m the best.  Pick me!”

So here I go on another adventure.  I’ll see you all soon.  Wish me luck.

Feeding my Autumn Addiction…

Looking out of the window today, I see that the trees are bare except for the stubborn oaks that often hold onto their leaves until spring.  Our yard has been raked.  The ground is mostly clear.  If I didn’t know better, just looking out, I might think that we are inside a winter thaw or that it is an early spring day.  But, in fact, we are really just between seasons.

“Hi, I’m Barb”…(HI, BARB)…and I’m a fall-oholic!”

George Eliot said, “Delicious autumn!  My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.”  I have been known to say the same thing although not in such poetic language.  I sometimes fantasize about living in a world of autumns.

But if I were truthful, I would have to admit that I really wouldn’t like that at all.  Because it is the heat of the summer that makes me appreciate the mellow, loveliness of fall, and the intense color of fall that helps me appreciate the spare icy beauty of winter and, of course, it’s winter’s color scheme that makes me long for spring.  If I were truthful, I would admit that I am simply addicted to the changing seasons.  But I am glad that through my camera, I can revisit my favorite season whenever I want…