autumn

The Dance of the Season

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It’s the dance of the season,

the frolic of Fall.

Leaves

drift

down.

Pollen freckles the birdbath,

tickles my nose—

a snappy breeze,

an autumn sneeze.

Branches bow,

a leaf breaks loose.

Then another.

And another.

Lifted and swirled,

tossed and twirled,

they join the drift,

the sink and lift on

cool currents of air

that stir them around

and down

to the ground

to scuffle and settle.

All the while, the breeze whispers to leaves

still clinging to branches,

“Come and dance.

Come and dance.”

And they do,

and they will

until branches are bare

and a chill stirs the air.

Then Fall flicks her skirts

and flirts with Winter

who knows this dance well.

She’ll take the lead

flinging flakes of frost

in a waltz with the wind.

But that’s weeks away.

For today, it’s a breeze

and a sneeze

and a timid drift

of golden leaves.

– kh –

 

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

 

Nature of the week—moonrise:

Shadow of the Week:

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Text and photos © 2023 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

What Looks Like the End

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“There will come a time

when you believe everything is finished.

That will be the beginning.”

– Louis L’Amour –

 

What looks like the end is simply the beginning. I think that’s the lesson of autumn as the leaves drop away and the trees go bare, as flowers wilt and dry and fall from their stems, as birds fly south and the winds grow cold. Even the calendar year heads into its last pages. It would be easy to believe that everything is finished. But we’ve been around long enough, haven’t we, to know that it’s just the beginning.

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

 

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

If you want me to send these thoughts to your email each Sunday, simply sign up on the right.

Text and photos © 2022 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

Autumn-New

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“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.”

– F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby –

 

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

 

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

 

If you want me to send these thoughts to your email each Sunday, simply sign up on the right.

Text and photos © 2021 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

Like Smoke Across the Sky

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“In the cloud-gray mornings

I heard the herons flying;

And when I came into my garden,

My silken outer-garment

Trailed over withered leaves.

A dry leaf crumbles at a touch,

But I have seen many Autumns

With herons blowing like smoke

Across the sky.”

– Amy Lowell, “Hoar Frost” –

 

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week – our first snow of the season:

Shadow of the Week:

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Text and photos © 2020 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

Light and Color

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“How beautiful the leaves grow old.

How full of light and color are their last days.”

– John Burroughs –

 

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

 

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

If you want me to send these thoughts to your email each Sunday, simply sign up on the right.

Text and photos © 2020 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

Singing in the Trees

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“Joy, with pinions light, roves round

The gardens, or sits singing in the trees.”

– William Blake, “To Autumn” –

 

Look for joy. Nurture peace. Cultivate kindness. Carry the calm.

 

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

If you want me to send these thoughts to your email each Sunday, simply sign up on the right.

Text and photos © 2020 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

A Misty, Mellow Season

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Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run.

– John Keats, “To Autumn” –

 

May you find a mellow path through this season and rest in the fruitfulness around and within you.

Nurture peace. Cultivate kindness. Carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

If you want me to send these thoughts to your email each Sunday, simply sign up on the right.

Text and photos © 2019 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

Lighting Up Our Whole Lives

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“One day the sun shall . . . perchance

shine into our minds and hearts,

and light up our whole lives

with a great awakening light,

as warm and serene and golden

as on a bankside in autumn.”

– Henry David Thoreau –

 

Nurture peace. Cultivate kindness. Carry the calm.

 

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

If you want me to send these thoughts to your email each Sunday, simply sign up on the right.

Text and photos © 2019 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

Art and Autumn

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“Art cannot rival this pomp of purple and gold.”

– Emerson –

(But I try.)

 

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

 

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

If you want me to send these thoughts to your email each Sunday, simply sign up on the right.

For my longer posts on the art of noticing, link here.

 

Text and photos © 2018 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

In the Misty Morn

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“I saw old Autumn in the misty morn

Stand shadowless like silence, listening

To silence.”

– Thomas Hood, “Ode: Autumn” –

 

Pause a moment to stand with old Autumn. Listen to silence.

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

 

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week – cast by a decoration on a glass table:

If you want me to send these thoughts to your email each Sunday, simply sign up on the right.

For my longer posts on the art of noticing, link here.

 

Text and photos © 2018 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.