OCTOBER

October 2012

  
It's October, one of my favorite months of the year. Even here in southeastern
Massachusetts I can enjoy the Fall foliage colors and I frequently take drives
in the afternoon to "leaf peep" and take pictures. But this morning I wondered
if my colonial ancestors were as entranced by the change of colors as we are
today. Back then most of them were farmers, so I suspect they were too busy
getting in whatever was left still in their fields and orchards. They wouldn't
be creating "corn mazes", they were too busy making sure they had enough
food harvested and preserved to help them survive through the Winter.

October 2011

October 2013

   
 
Looking for a poem about Autumn here in New England, I found this from
Robert Frost, who lived for many years in New Hampshire.

October

O hushed October morning mild,
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
 
Tomorrow’s wind, if it be wild,
Should waste them all.
The crows above the forest call;
Tomorrow they may form and go.
O hushed October morning mild,
Begin the hours of this day slow.
Make the day seem to us less brief.
Hearts not averse to being beguiled,
Beguile us in the way you know.
Release one leaf at break of day;
At noon release another leaf;
One from our trees, one far away.
Retard the sun with gentle mist;
Enchant the land with amethyst.
Slow, slow!
For the grapes’ sake, if they were all,
Whose leaves already are burnt with frost,
Whose clustered fruit must else be lost—
For the grapes’ sake along the wall.

October 2014