This time of year, I cling to the beauty of autumn.
Brightly colored leaves, I love. Falling leaves — not my favorite.
Because once they fall, they’re gone.
So I “hold on tight”, cherishing every scrap of beauty, even as it fades away like the smile of Alice’s Cheshire cat.
More and more trees show bare branches, as in the photo below — as more and more of their former leaves end up alongside the road, or on lawns.
But check out the red verbena growing over the wall: While the rest of Cheri’s and my backyard garden lies almost dormant, this flower cluster — my favorite all summer — is barreling along, unfazed by the increasing cold. Here and there, roses still run rampant, especially the “knockout” variety so recently popular.
There still is lavish beauty here and there, in our neighborhood. By capturing it in pictures, I can preserve it, at least in memory, through the coming winter months.
