Autumn Beauty

Is not this a true autumn day? Just the still melancholy that I love - that makes life and nature harmonise. The birds are consulting about their migrations, the trees are putting on the hectic or the pallid hues of decay, and begin to strew the ground, that one's very footsteps may not disturb the repose of earth and air, while they give us a scent that is a perfect anodyne to the restless spirit. 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.
                   ~ George Eliot

Just today, a friend was lamenting the drabness of the clouds, and the lack of color in our trees. But I see beauties and surprises everywhere I look.

For instance, we came across this purple cauliflower at the market last week:

And in recent walks, I've been surprised to discover flowers, still hanging on, in spite of the changing season:

On Parkview, by
Asylum Lake Preserve

Friendship Village gardens

Friendship Village woods

I love light (Mom used to regularly complain, because I insisted on turning on lights in the house - but I crave light, and abhor even the hint of shadow). This time of year, I love catching light through the trees.

I've not yet seen solid banks of color, but Bonnie and I continue to find bits of color and beauty here and there are on our walks.

Here are several photos from our walk last Saturday at Asylum Lake Preserve.

And these are from recent walks at Friendship Village:

These are birches in Frays Park, by our house. They are a wonderful yellow, splendid even in this morning's rain, although I struggle to capture their beauty (I have many photos of these trees, I'm afraid!).