Autumn Days

My favorite picture from 11/12/05. (Click picture for larger view)

Autumn Days
Yellow, mellow, ripened days,
Sheltered in a golden coating;
O'er the dreamy, listless haze,
White and dainty cloudlets floating;
Winking at the blushing trees,
And the sombre, furrowed fallow;
Smiling at the airy ease,
Of the southward flying swallow
Sweet and smiling are thy ways,
Beauteous, golden Autumn days.
~ Will Carleton (1845 - 1912)

The little college park in Williamsburg. The tall green lush marsh is gone, replaced by grey-brown mounds of mud and decaying foliage. The crabs no longer sun in their mud holes near the water. The maples are all shades of red, orange and yellow. Gone are the Canadian geese, the small blue violets, and the wildflowers with their suitors, the Monarch butterflies.

An older couple are here fishing for catfish with spoiled meat for bait. Last year they caught ten to twelve pounders; but this year nothing. They have been here since early morning and will go home empty handed. As we speak I see a flash of silver as a large catfish flip-flops out of the water just a few feet away from the still bobber. The bobber moves rhythmically as the waves from the fish's wake spreads outward in concentric circles. The fish is laughing at the man; chuckling at the woman.

The bright moon comes up to take her ride across the darkening sky and I'm getting cold. I forgot my jacket in my morning haste to see Nyssa. It's time to go home. But I wonder; what if I were to stay?

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