From the garden
November has arrived and now is a glorious time in the garden. Before hunkering down for the winter months, enjoy the beauty of the changing seasons by taking some quiet time in the garden.
This weekend we get our mornings back with the return of normal time. Sunlight reappears to our mornings.
Snuggle in a favorite chair in the garden and take time to drink in the fresh, November outdoors. Busy summer chores have been completed. The garden has been put to bed. Now is contemplation time.
Turn off digital devices. Take a break from screen time. Take a deep breath. Let your senses kick in—smell, sight, sound, touch.
Smell the earthy soil disturbed from raked leaves. Shut your eyes. Focus on the sounds of autumn like the plunk plunks of acorns dropping from oaks. Be so still that you can almost hear leaves as they fall from trees and softly land on already present piles of autumn leaves. Feel the breeze as it gently passes over your body.
Poems and books have captured the essence of the autumn season. The heightened senses of inspired writers have transformed images into words. A few follow.
The quote by Henry David Thoreau (181–1862) in his book “Walden: Or, Life in the Woods” succinctly encapsulates two of our senses: “Autumn came, with wind and gold.” Thoreau spent two years in a cabin on the shores of Walden Pond where he reflected on simple living in natural surroundings, writing “We can never have enough of nature.”
Emily Brontë (1818–1848) is remembered for her novel “Wuthering Heights” yet in her short life she wrote several poems. Brontë’s apparent passion for autumn was expressed with these phrases in her poem Fall, Leaves, Fall: “Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree”.
And one last autumn sentiment. George Cooper (18401927) takes the role of Wind as he speaks to autumn leaves in his essay “In the Wind and the Leaves.” “Come, little leaves,” said the Wind one day, “Come to the meadows with me and play. Put on your dresses of red and gold; For Summer is past, and the days grow cold.”
Such vivid images that poetry brings to life—fluttering leaves of gold and red playing with the wind. Enjoy your glorious November.
Quotes from goodreads.com
Ellen Peffley Harp, a retired professor of horticulture at Texas Tech University, writes about gardening for several Texas newspapers.
