Philly (suburbs) Fall Frolic

In the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you (Leo Tolstoy) I did plenty of that in North Wales, PA for Thanksgiving at my Dad's. No work, lots of putzing, plenty of laughs, tons of food, and some observations. I didn't write much, but words churn in my brain and material will erupt from my time with family and friends.

Goethe wrote One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.

Employ thy time well, if thou meanest to get leisure. I think Ben Franklin's goal was to rock on my father's front porch and watch the leaves swirl like snow.

Look up, look down, seek that surprise splash of color.

Bushes are at eye level and trap leaves. Stand still and listen for the rustle, inhale the fragrant evergreen, revel in the crisp air, and then contemplate a cup of cocoa. Winter bleakness knocks at the door. We're not answering ...yet.

Fall Fables

Need to get out the thesaurus to come up with better words or colors for a poem or ode to the arboretum. Plus a fall setting to start a book is upbeat and then we encounter the first hardship - winter. Fix a cup of tea and stir the pot or plot.

Plucky purple. Surely I can incorporate a description of this bounty into my November NaNoWriMo - that's National Novel Writing Month
and I'm using October to jot some notes and rev the engines. Last year I started writing with no clue and I'm still writing the end to the darn mess. However, for this next novel, I have a plan.

Yeah, and maybe there'll be a wedding in my book. I just attended a fall wedding and the colors, table decor, and leaf motif were splendid. I was also inspired by the tasty spice cake. Plenty of fall fables to tell, and perhaps a cake to bake.

Fall Take Away

First day of fall, and I've been back a week from PA. I escaped in time. These lovely green leaves on the 90 plus feet tall oak trees will slowly turn colors and then drop like crazy. Layers of crimson and gold. Tons of crunchy acorns. All underfoot awaiting a rake.

Browsing through a copy of Traditional Home (October 2009), a quote caught my eye courtesy of French author Antoine de Saint-Exupery. "A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add but when there is nothing to take away."

Definitely true words when editing a story or plucking at a poem. Or for my father, when the last leaf drifts from the tree, is raked up, and snow blankets the bare limbs.

Joanne

FYI- upon perusing the magazine, the color green is IN. Plus coax quiet rooms to speak up with color. That could also be said of many paragraphs I wrote this morning. Back to the drawing board.