Farewell to Autumn

It was only a couple of weeks ago that Jacqueline and her two girlfriends went trick or treating, orange sacs under their arms, leaves swirling around them down the moonlit streets.  This morning, Thomas cleaned snow and ice off the car. Jacqueline's door was frozen shut.  My teenager even wore a coat! When I dropped Jacqueline off at school, she went directly into the portable because the temperature was so low.

I came home and browsed on Facebook to find a photograph of a ripe red apple still hanging from the tree surrounded by a winter wonderland in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia.  I feel like that apple.  I still want to cling to the tree and hang on to autumn.  I'm not ready for the fierce winter winds, the frigid temperatures, the icy roads.

I want autumn to last forever.  I want to enjoy the coloured leaves on the trees, the flocks of birds soaring through the clear blue sky as they fly south, the gold chrysanthemums in the garden.  I want to rake leaves and bake pumpkin Bundt cake and watch the harvest moon rise over the horizon.  I want to enjoy the stillness of the season.  

As the ripe red apple still clings to the tree, snowflakes fall.  Farewell to autumn.

www.facebook.com/novascotiaphotos

The Tree Canopy

1.  Tree canopy in autumn.

2.  Tree canopy in spring courtesy datumdezign.com.

3.  Tree canopy in autumn courtesy 1ms.com.

4.  Tree canopy in Northern California courtesy staticflickr.com.

5.  Autumn tree canopy courtesy roadschooled.com.

6.  Blue sky tree canopy courtesy desktopnexus.com.

7/  Road canopy courtesy wordpress.com.

8.  Black & white canopy courtesy dreamstime.com

9.  Japanese Maple canopy courtesy japanesemaple.jpg.

10.  Palm tree canopy courtesy shutterstock.com.

Falling for Chapter Books

Here are ten chapter books recommended for fall.

1.  The Best Halloween Ever (Barbara Robinson)

2.  Haunted Castle on Hallow's Eve (Mary Pope Osborne)

3.  The Skeleton in the Smithsonian (Ron Roy)

4.  Thanksgiving on Thursday (Mary Pope Osborne)

5.  The Great Turkey Walk (Kathleen Karr)

6.  The Candy Corn Contest (Patricia Reilly Giff)

7.  The Peculiar Pumpkin Thief (Geronimo Stilton)

8.  Coyote Autumn (Bill Wallace)

9.  Apple Orchard Race (Abby Klein)

10.  There's an Owl in the Shower (Jean Craighead George)

Coyote Autumn courtesy http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51YhwYB3xZL.jpg

Autumn Magic

1.  Amazing Autumn Scene courtesy wallcoo.net.

2,  Ducks in Lake courtesy setialaysayang.com.

3,  Autumn Church Scene courtesy mytuxedocatalogue.com.

4.  Tunnel courtesy fanpop.com.

5.  Railroad tracks courtesy fanpop.com.

6.  Red leaves courtesy santabanta.com.

7.  House courtesy http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/430199/Autumn-bursts-in-and-the-brightly-coloured-leaves-are-fireworks.

8.  Bench courtesy http://imgarcade.com/1/fall-bench/.

9.  Bridge courtesy https://www.flickr.com/.

10.  Tree courtesy zoomerradio.ca.