My Grandma Hallet gave me a Roger Williams piano music album when I was eight.
I don’t really know why, necessarily. It was used, so she probably got it at a yard sale or a thrift store because she did not have money, really, to spend. It was probably a birthday gift. It wasn’t groovy or cool, but she knew I loved music and was never far from my little record player. And so I came to love it. And especially the song, “Autumn Leaves.” I secretly danced to it…
This leaf drifted from a tree in my front yard yesterday and landed at my feet, like a gift. I will probably play with it at www.picnik.com at some point, but this is just as it came. And truly, the autumn produces colors like no other, does it not? Glory. That is the color of fall. What started green and bright and light, unfurling after a stark winter, now reaches its’ full and most beautiful stage, and having held on with strength and determination throughout the summer, through both drought and drenching rains, now falls, now tumbles. Now, peacefully and content with itself, dances right down before me, a gift. Glory.
Missing my Grandma Hallet. I wish she could know what her gentle spirit meant to me.
I do love the fall. I guess I really like all the seasons but Fall brings crisp jacket weather with all the colors of the sunrise and autumn leaves to frame every morning. I enjoy fall clothes. I like the light jackets and coats and feeling bundled and warm when a few puffs of breath can begin to be seen at dawn. And I love fall for what it brings – winter and with winter – Christmas! My favorite time of year. And winters in Colorado are like no where else. I grew up here, but have wintered in different places through my 52 years of breathing, North Dakota, Indiana, Iowa, and Nebraska; and there is no winters like Colorado and there is nothing (as Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) sings, like Christmas in the Colorado snow. Yes, I love the blazing heat of summer, tanned shoulders and floating in the pool. But I am also glad to see fall, because I know soon and very soon this year, the garage door will fly up and the 12ft Christmas tree will plod onto the living room carpet and with it, another cornucopia of Christmas joy and memories…