Wednesday, November 19, 2008


Surrounded by Old Trees

The leaves are letting go. Their grip, so tight-fisted in green, is looser now in scarlet and gold and has begun to give way completely. They are tumbling from their lofty perches, en masse. If only their voices were just a bit more audible, one could perhaps hear squeals of delight as they fearlessly slip from their branches and chase each other round the garden in jeweltoned, featherlight flocks. Continuing all the day long, all through the cold November night, seeming to multiply by the thousands each hour upon hour as if bubbling up from the cold ground itself or being thrown down by the fistfuls from the hand of a mischievous angel high up beyond the clouds; an angel amused by her overhead view of us pink-cheeked beings as we scurry and worry in our feeble attempts to contain this ever growing torrent of falling, flying colour. Until we, not as slow to learn as might be supposed, finally lay down our wooden rakes and march towards the waiting warmth of the fire, realizing at last that this uncontrollable, technicolour horde is perhaps meant as a gift best enjoyed, with hot chocolate in hand and dogs snuggled beside us, from a soft chair by the window.
Oh, let them fall.

31 comments:

  1. oh, I loved this post - such a wonderful picture you paint - I could see it all and it was good! and thank you for your kind comment on my blog - I wish you could have seen the performance also - they were quite wonderful....

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  2. ps - your Christmas boxes are really lovely......

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  3. "realizing at last that this uncontrollable, technicolour horde is perhaps meant as a gift best enjoyed, with hot chocolate in hand and dogs snuggled beside us, from a soft chair by the window." ~Beautiful!

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  4. WONDERFUL..thank you..the leaves little voices..magical

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  5. I love being surrounded by old trees too. We have noticed so many being cut down lately and it is so sad! Your post today was lovely Pamela as were the words of Robert Frost.

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  6. I inadvertently erased the poem that went with this post. I'll try to rescan it later, but if anyone is interested...it was 'Gathering Leaves" by Robert Frost!

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  7. Such a lovely post. It was absolutely freezing today up here in Canada, but I'm enjoying the chill! I can't wait for snow!

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  8. If only I could see the heaps of leaves grow on the ground. Alas, there really aren't any fall leaves where I live.

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  9. Ah, autumn... such beauty, such a season... what's not to love?

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  10. Wonderful image this all conjures up and glorious painting, to boot!

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  11. Such a lovely sentiment - yes, let the leaves play and we can enjoy their wonderful colours and listen to their distinctive sounds. xv

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  12. Watching them fall from the trees and flutter in the air is one of my favorite activites.

    I have given in to raking a couple of times (it rains here so much that one must in the brief windows of sun - else the leaves plaster themselves to your lawn and kill the grass before you get around to moving them) - but there are still a few left in the trees. There will be at least one more raking this fall before the complete onset of winter.

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  13. As always, a lip-smacking piece of prose-poetry (?) Greats stuff.

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  14. This is just beautiful. Just about all the leave have fallen and now I'm missing them. Thanks.

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  15. This reads like a poem, just wonderful.

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  16. And don't you just love when the leaves have been raked into a pile big enough to jump and frolic in! While I hate the raking I love to watch the falling leaves. Beautiful post.

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  17. oh i want to be there surrounded by the trees, feeling the leaves swirl across my face and exhilarating in the kaleidoscope of color!

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  18. That reminded me of the saying "If at 1st you don't suceed try again then give up there's no use beign a fool about it."

    There's something sad about heaped piles of leaves instead of letting them swirl under the tree providing compost when they rot down. I suppose these same people would fertilize in Spring. LOL I love the sight of the patchwork blankets of leaves are giving now.

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  19. Hello to you and Edward,
    I have enjoyed catching up on your blog this morning especially this wonderful post. The leaves are coming down thick and fast here too, I love the noise when walking through them.

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  20. Oh, how lovely - leaves with little voices - magical. I like the idea of watching them roll around the garden from a comfy chair rather than struggle to rake them up:)

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  21. That is such a beautiful post. ♥ ∞

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  22. They are crunching against my window as I type this...for some reason, that is a comfort to me! Lovely post, as usual. I love this time of year.

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  23. Yes, hot chocolate definitely called for.
    And a warm dog.
    These last days of November are delicious.
    Happy Thanksgiving.

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  24. A beautiful tribute to the everlasting life of a leaf! Thank you for your gorgeous words of hope Pamela.

    Happy Thanksgiving to you and the Master of the house!
    xox
    Constance

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  25. The leaves are all almost all gone and the air was frosty today -- early winter is upon us. Have a very happy Thanksgiving!

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  26. Yep, leaves romp together all around my yard, finally settling on my driveway. They pile into great tall drifts of crackling debris. And when it rains I have to be careful not to ski downhill on them...I better rake before that happens.

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  27. lovely lovely post, especially the leaves squealing with delight....

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  28. What a beautiful picture you paint Pamela. You should be a writer. You are a writer!

    I loved it a couple of weeks ago when it was really windy and the leaves tumbled down - it looked for all the world like a child's painting.

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  29. Beautiful! Don't you love the old gnarled trunks of ancient trees? Must be the Celt within:^)

    Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

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  30. In days of yore when my chilren and later my grandchildren were small, the autumn leaves to us were a feast of beauty, of laughter, and of joy. The raked up heaps we would dive into with gay abandon, bury ourselves with just one leg sticking up. Play faeries and toss them into the air again and again and just burst with the beauty and joy of it. Laughter rang loud to heaven and the angels smiled on us.
    I love your way of looking at life.

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I love to read your comments! Each and every one! Though I'm always reading your comments, I may not respond in the comment section. If you want to write me directly, you may do so at pamela@pamelaterry.net. Thank you for reading!