Golden days are upon us…
I have Joni Mitchell singing in my head…
"We are stardust
We are golden
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden…"
The golden pecan tree, in the distant front yard, glows in its golden glory.
So, I ask it for some leaves.
Stringing them up on a sturdy thread with a needle before they are dry.
A good little craft to do for Thanksgiving I think to myself.
It's important to find moments of being present in life.
Especially in our technological world.
Just unplug, and go outside to see what's going on with growing things.
I have this thought over and over.
About how appropriate it is for this week to be Thanksgiving.
With an abundance of pumpkins and quince and apples and greens, oranges and more.
So much to eat.
In so many shades of gold and red and orange.
What a special season, this autumn.
I think these thoughts as I walk around the garden whilst the sun sets.
I leave Matty in the driveway and turn around to walk north towards the vegetable garden.
I see the sun shining a golden ray directly onto a pumpkin, making it light up and glow.
And I think, yes yes, this is a sign.
A moment.
A message.
A hello.
I see you golden light, I see you shining on my pumpkin.
🖤
The gold bursts like confetti around the apricot tree way out back.
A perfect back drop to tufts like snow.
I look at my pumpkins.
Trying to let them stay out as long as they can.
Even if the vine is dying.
The longer they stay on, the longer they last.
There were ever so many babies turning up late in the season.
But now the mice or some other critters are nibbling at them.
I saw cute little teeth marks this morning.
Which is fine since they won't have a chance to ripen.
Poor green little babies.
At least they will feed some critters.
I check Brussels sprouts.
And pick up dry tomatillo casings.
I love their lace quality.
I look around for more turning leaves to string up.
I take a few orange and red ones from the jasmine.
A few yellow from the apricot tree.
I stop and marvel at that fluffy desert broom.
Most people hate it.
But I don't.
It's desert snow 🙂
The days are cool and open and brisk.
So bright you can see the top of Mount Lemmon.
The light is so very different in the cool weather.
Beautiful too.
But some of us still search for warmth.
Lighting us up like that pumpkin.
Bluest sky and pecan leaves, I string so many up.
Then hang them on my mantle.
A garland of leaves.
Summer is only a memory.
Deciduous trees are going to sleep.
It's a beautiful cozy time.
I have had a very interesting introspective year or so.
So much change in my mind and soul.
In me, my being.
I feel different.
I have learned so much.
It's amazing to find that in chaos and fear, when tough things happen in life, you can later find a peace so vast you could float in it, like floating in the pool of a hot spring.
Much of how life happens to us depends on how we want to perceive it.
It's a gift to gain wisdom from it.
There will be dark days in our lives.
They make the light so much brighter.
And they teach us so much.
I guess that is why Leonard Cohen sang…
"There is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in."
I see you golden light.
Thank goodness for the cracks.
Thankful hearted I am, I so am.
A little cheesy/sappy too I guess?
🙂
What makes you thankful hearted?
Love, Vanessa
“We are stardust
We are golden
And we’ve got to get ourselves
Back to the garden…”
Good lyrics. I think more and more people lose touch with nature these days. I think a lot of people don’t know the tranquillity of walking by themselves through fields in summer or along a shore. I remember staring outside my parents car when I was little at the black sky sprinkled with stars. The sky in this city seems to be a permanent washed out dark red.
In my job I’ve learnt that it’s often necessary to explain to some people from large cities that National Parks aren’t like city parks – you need the right shoes because the ground is more unstable and much muddier than city parks. It seems like an overly obvious thing to say, but I had to say it when I realised that many city people I spoke to had never walked through a proper field before, nevermind gone hiking in a national park!
Absolutely stunning pics. I’ll have to remember your idea of making a leaf garland next fall.
Absolutely beautiful Vanessa~
Fall is my personal favorite. All of your pictures and lyrics speak straight to my heart. Good days gone by and the best yet to come-
Much gratitude and giving thanks for your creative spirit- Thank you for creating and sharing 🙂
Happy Thanksgiving-
Julia
Your words are so lyrical and beautiful. I love the garland of fall leaves and the sunshine on your dog–they always find the one sunny spot don’t they? And Joni Mitchell and leonard Cohen–what more could you want to listen to?
Ciao Vanessa!
It’s always so wonderful to visit your blog. Love all the photos and walking with you through your garden. Beautiful. Everything. Words and photographs.
Happy Thanksgiving to you.
Ciao bella,
Suzanne
Oh I’ve never seen those puffy desert brooms before….how lovely and fairy-like they look….do they make you sneeze though? I’ve been sneezing up a storm the past few days (delved into my costume trunk…..egads….the dust from a few years of neglect is horrid….I had to launder everything after my allergies had quite the fit, indeed!) tee hee. Wishing you a most merry and lovely and splendid Thanksgiving to come….and wanted to let you know I’m thankful for all the beauty that you share! : )
So beautiful Vanessa… your photos and your prose… I am thankful for so many things in my life, I could write a book… like everyone, I have had my ups and downs in life… my bad times and good times… but I choose not to dwell on the bad times and happily think about the good… for me, family and carrying on traditions makes me thankful hearted… so many of my loved ones are no longer here, so by carrying on these traditions, I feel they are with us… always in my thoughts… forever close by in my heart… Happy Thanksgiving to you and Mister and your furry babies… so precious they are… and I am especially thankful God sent my sweet pup Tessy to me… for she now has her forever home and has made our life so much more beautiful… xoxo… Julie Marie
“Summer is only a memory” said the Queen of V. one day.
“Let us shower in golden light while dancing all the way.”
The trumpets on Lemmmonn are sounding light,
While the leaves do tremble on the peach tree bright.
A warm pool, a reflective glance, the wisdom of an inborn trance.
In glorious earth deep down below,
Where the silent root earth babies grow..
Giving their light to earths soul.
Oh how sweet their love and scarifice,
To be reborn in the tummys of mice.
As the seasons sing I am so grateful for the magic ring.
It spins around and giving life,
And ur r rt it gives us gifts while learning through strife.
I had some of the toughtest days of late,
Made me shiver at the gate.\
And soon as my tear did fall, the warmth and salt of it all.
Gave my heart an expansive rest allowing the challenges to go west.
And then a cry from the east to spread my wings and take right feast.
To listen and honor my inner voice to love and be free with my choice.
To shower gratitude ever more…it woke me up its time to soar.
ANd so the red hawk couple on our land, the deers, coyote and my quilted lamb-
Send me joy from me to you amongst the golden red leaves and sparkling morning dew.
Awhile, at last, a moment is like no other past and yet we all have Dejavu the autumn fairies remember too.
So autumn hats on to you and maybe a winter hat on will do too.
Cheers and sup to you, your Mr. and pups… Most Joyus Thanksgiving to all.
I love that song that you quoted. <3
Side note, your "Desert Broom" plant reminds me of what we have (in Oklahoma where I grew up) called "Tumbleweeds"...only our plant/brush wasn't as pretty. It was dirty and rolled a lot through the hills and dirt.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE That Cohen verse.
Jo
Wow, I love the golden strung leaves! What a great idea! The tomatillo casings are great too, like faery lanterns!
That Leonard Cohen verse is hugely inspiring to me, I have a tattoo of the word Light to remind me.
Wow…you say all of this so beautifully, Vanessa. That golden light which shines through, yeah, ‘we are golden, we are Stardust’…funny, as I have just begun two evenings ago to read ‘Stardust’ by Neil Gaiman. It love the movie, but had never read the actual book.
At sunset, this evening, the moon was a crescent, and the sun was shining below the horizon, but still on the moon, so you could still see the outline of the dark side of the moon. That lovely, reflected sunlight. It was a lovely sight to behold, as it’s not often our air quality is clear enough to see the full, round outline, of the back-lit moon. I love your fluffy flower ‘snow’. And your garland of golden leaves too. I love the smell of our Liquid Amber leaves which are turning all shades of gold and red, and have almost finished falling. This is, by far, one of my most favorite times of the year.
Thank you for the enchanting photos.
‘We shall walk in velvet shoes, in the snow, silence will fall like leaves, at a tranquil pace, we shall walk in…the snow.’ Words from a song my second sister had in her wedding. A blissful song from years ago! It may be on Youtube too!
Have a blessed Thanksgiving!
Miss Teresa
HI Vanessa!
You are so, so right, much of how life happens to us depends on how we want to perceive it. Seems lately I am seeing this much more. I’ve learned that the beauty of getting older is growing. As you said, you’ve changed, I’ve changed. The way I see life is much different than even just a year ago.
I love your garden! I can only imagine how much more beautiful it is in life.
I wish a very harmonious and Happy Thanksgiving!
It’s all so wonderful.
Just like there is no end to the wonders of the Universe, there is no end to what makes me thankful-hearted. A sunbeam tickling my nose, a gust of wind kissing my cheeks, rain falling from the sky feeding the sources that quench our thirst and appease our hunger, the light of love shining in my child’s beautiful long-lashed eyes, my husband’s passion for music, the welcoming open arms of my parent’s and in-laws, the familiar ways and faces of my friends, everything that mirrors the world: books, paintings, a grain of sand, a dinosaur’s bone, geometry and genetics fanning out into countless life-forms… I believe gratitude is the key that opens our hearts from within inviting the fullness of life to flow into our souls. I’m infinitely thankful for all the seeds that were and are still being planted into my heart. Having found fertile soil there, they have turned my inner world into a glorious garden overflowing with scented flowers, colours and lovely fruit laden trees. I’m thankful for all the kind hearts all over the world, the sunlit hearts, the happy confetti spreading hearts, the rare golden ones and the adorable like yours, Vanessa, with its fine rim of jewels sparkling around it.
You are a beautiful soul and I’m ridiculously grateful for your crack.
No wait.
For the light of you that shines through The Crack!
Xoxoviii roostah
hahahahhehehehee!
Oh my goodness… I feel so thankful hearted for so many, many things. even when I’m in my grouchy I don’t want it to be winter mood. I’ve noticed the trees hanging on to their leaves almost desperately this year. My grandpa used to say that was a sign of a rough winter. I just love your natural garland of golden leaves, how beautiful. That Joni Mitchell song brought back floods of sweet childhood memories… I’m thankful hearted for those memories for sure. â¤
Such beautiful wisdom! Mother Nature chooses her strongest warriors to fight the toughest battles, doesn’t she? I love your heart and soul! xo Jen