Seasonal Celebrations-Autumn’s Blessings

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“Fall has always been my favorite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale.” 
― Lauren DeStefano

 

 

It is that time of year when we start to think of change in the garden.  The weather shifts a bit tickling us with a nip in the air.  The leaves take on a lighter green and begin to fade to yellows and reds here and there.  The fall flowers come on strong, and the veg garden begins to wind down.

I can hardly begin to think about fall DSCN2155as I spent so little time in the garden in spring and summer.  But I think the fall garden is one of the most special.  It is so very rich in blessings, and what a celebration it gives before retiring for the year.

So instead of grumbling about fall coming, I want to take time to celebrate all the earth has given me in my gardens!

 

 

“The days may not be so bright and balmy—yet the quiet and melancholy that linger around them is fraught with glory. Over everything connected with autumn there lingers some golden spell—some unseen influence that penetrates the soul with its mysterious power.” ~Northern Advocate 

 

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“Two sounds of autumn are unmistakable…the hurrying rustle of crisp leaves blown along the street…by a gusty wind, and the gabble of a flock of migrating geese.”  
~ Hal Borland
 
 
The geese are beginning to move already.  And many birds have left the garden.  Packed up and taken their beautiful song and cute little babies South.  But the Goldfinches are now stealing the show in the garden as they have free reign to gorge on all the seed left from the summer blooms.
 
 
 
 
 
 
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“Methinks I see the sunset light flooding the river valley, the western hills stretching to the horizon, overhung with trees gorgeous and glowing with the tints of autumn—a mighty flower garden, blossoming under the spell of the enchanter, Frost…”
~John Greenleaf Whittier, “Patucket Falls” 
 
 
As the sunsets earlier in fall, it hits the barren trees with a magical color that is unseen in other seasons.  The colors of fall splash from the sky to the trees to flower blooms that continue on into fall.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 “The leaves fall patiently
Nothing remembers or grieves
The river takes to the sea
The yellow drift of leaves.”
~ Sara Teasdale
 
 
I am just catching a glimpse of the leaves already turning in the garden.  I can’t hold back autumn.  It will come no matter what I do or what I think.  So I have decided to enjoy every second of this seasonal change.
 
 
 
 
 
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“Then summer fades and passes, and October comes. Will smell smoke then, and feel an unsuspected sharpness, a thrill of nervous, swift elation, a sense of sadness and departure.”
~Thomas Wolfe, You Can’t Go Home Again
 
 
Autumn is always a bittersweet time.  The lovely colors, the childhood memories of school and Halloween, the late veg garden still producing, but soon the winds will shift and bite cold.  The color will drain from the garden as autumn progresses.  But it only makes the buds of spring just that much more beautiful next year.
 
 
 
 
 

My autumn mantra:

And even with these bittersweet thoughts, I am honoring autumn.  There is so much to look forward to.  To rejoice in…so many blessings to hold on to and remember.  Abundance galore!  And since I spent so little time in the garden in spring and summer, I hope to sink my hands into the soil, before it freezes, to pull weeds, cut back some plants, divide and move others and see what changes I want to make in spring.

 

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“The world is full of abundance and opportunity, but far too many people come to the fountain of life with a sieve instead of a tank car… a teaspoon instead of a steam shovel. They expect little and as a result they get little.”  ~ Ben Sweetland

 

 

 

 
 
 

I hope you will join in by writing a post between now and September 21st.  Then leave a comment on this post with your link so I can include your link in my summary post on September 22nd.

 
 
 
And it seems so appropriate to collaborate with Beth@Plant Postings and her Lessons Learned meme at this same time.  What lessons have you learned this past season of summer here in the North and winter in the South.  Write a separate post or combine your lessons with your celebrations.
 

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Next up on the blog:  Monday will be time to review the August Garden.  And Wednesday I will have a wildlife post.  I have been seeing so many incredible critters with their special stories.

 

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