quiescence

In nature, there is a time for everything.

There is a time to sprout and grow.

There is a time to flourish and flow.

There is a time to slow down.

And there is a time to rest.

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There is also a time of reflection...a time to reflect on all for which I am grateful.  Cat at The Whimsical Gardener has created the Thanksgiving 30-day Challenge.

sunrises

mornings in the garden

beauty of blooms

surprises that make me smile

special visits

magical sights

nature walks

quiet moments

sunsets

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Like nature, I am in the midst of slowing down. Although there are a few chores left to do in the garden, there soon will be nothing left to do in the garden until spring. With the chores in the garden decreasing,  the joys and festivities of the holidays will keep me very busy with family visits, cooking, baking, short holiday trips, and celebrating this special time of year. I hope to find some time to rest as well. And so with all of that, I will be taking a blog-cation until January.

Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.
Ovid

Blogging has offered a very interesting time of discovery and exploration. I have met so many wonderful bloggers and gardeners. And I will miss the interaction that comes with blogging on a regular basis during these weeks until the new year.

To all the readers of The Sage Butterfly, I wish you pleasant holiday feasts and happy moments. I hope during these fun and hectic times of celebration, you will also find some time to rest.

See you in the new year of 2012!
©Michelle A. Potter

Autumn Amble - W4W Ephemeral

I often take a walk for exercise, fresh air, and clearing the mind. In the basement is a treadmill for those rainy days, but nothing can really compare to walking outside. I take different routes to refresh my senses and to get a glimpse of various nature scenes as they grow and change through the year. It is impossible not to notice all the color at this time of year--the reds and golds and the shadowy light of the low-lying sun.

As I walk through these leaf-filled paths and under the glimmering leaves, I try to savor these images for they are temporary and soon will be gone. Here, autumn has just passed its peak. Now, the leaves will begin to fade to brown and beige and fill the forest floor. Autumn and its artistry will soon be a memory. I am joining Donna at Garden Walk Garden Talk for Word for Wednesday - Ephemeral. Autumn is an ephemeral event.


Ephemeral - brief, episodic, fleeting, transient, impermanent


Although I enjoy living in an area where the seasons cycle through the year, it is always bittersweet to see a season end. Perhaps that is the charm--the seasons leave us wanting more and so we never tire of them.

Another attribute of the seasons is they are never really the same. Each year's autumn may be cooler or warmer than the previous year's autumn-- or more or less colorful. Plants and trees change and grow and therefore are different each autumn than the previous autumn. So, much of what I may see this autumn may be very much altered next autumn.

Much of the time I walk alone so I can completely focus on what I am seeing, smelling, and hearing.

Sometimes it is nice to walk with some like-minded friend who may notice something I did not.

I realize we have weeks to go before the end of autumn, but the array of hues will not be here for long. So, I say goodbye to autumn until next year. Thank you for the exquisite display of colors, textures, and magical sunlight. Thank you for the cool breezes that feel refreshing after a hot summer. I am much obliged to you, Mother Nature, for the opportunity to experience this season of resplendence. Late autumn has its splendor as well, so I say farewell to the undeniable radiance for which autumn is most recognizable.

As I come to the end of my stroll through the pigment of autumn, I stop and relish as much of it as I can...until next year.

©Michelle A. Potter

October's Garden Palette

In my October garden, the trees  and shrubs have begun their autumn dance of transition from jades and olives to golds and tangerines and garnets.

Sometimes there is only a branch that has begun the dance to burnt orange among the lime-colored surroundings.

Before this leaf reaches russet, it offers a deep violet.

The finale has come in toasted umber, and it is time to sleep.

A passing hummingbird came by for her last dance in my garden for the year. Her milky white breast fluffs as she grooms herself on a high branch.

With her painted iridescence, she visited flowers that were fading and beginning to close and turn ruddy.

The hydrangeas continue their metamorphosis into shades of fading blush...

to muddy silver...

to crispy ecru.

A few of the blooms of summer burst through for one last show of boldness in scarlet, amethyst, and fuchsia.

Other blooms have reached a state of slumber, turning honeyed gold with edges of cocoa sand.

Autumn chrysanthemums open with gem-colored claret and flaxen sunshine.

What are some of the colors in your October garden pallette?

I am linking up with Carolyn at This Grandmother's Garden for Autumn Walk Challenge and with Carol at May Dream Gardens for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.
©Michelle A. Potter

Repose - Saying Goodbye

Donna at Garden Walk Garden Talk has offered the word, repose, for Word for Wednesday. Repose is such an appropriate word for this time of year when the garden is slowly moving towards its rest period. We, as gardeners, are winding down our weeding, planting, and garden maintenance. Although I like the flurry of activity in the garden during the spring and summer, I welcome the shift to a slower rhythm once autumn arrives.

Although autumn is a time when things slow down, it is also a time for goodbyes. Nests have been abandoned and saved for next year's nestlings.

Hummingbirds make their annual migration south and say goodbye until next spring. With the cooler weather, they even seem to find time for repose.

These delicate, yet robust, creatures bring me such joy in the garden. I will miss their elegant beauty, that puff of their wings as they sprint by my ear, and that high-pitched and quick chirp they make as they dance around the blooms and the feeders.

Even the butterflies say goodbye as they search for sheltered spots for a chrysalis or they migrate south as the Monarch. Because I could not sufficiently support the Monarch when my butterfly milkweed plant was damaged in the hurricane, I was not sure I would even see any this year. How elated I was when one showed up to give me an autumn goodbye kiss.

A falling leaf landed on a branch of leaves to offer another form of repose.

Repose = restfulness, calm, leisure, peace, quiet, restoration...

Another goodbye to the Hope Grows Day meme. Hanni at Sweet Bean Gardening has turned Hope Grows Day into Hope Grew. She has decided to end this meme's run. Thank you, Hanni, for hosting Hope Grows Day. I will miss thinking about my garden hopes month after month. My hope for October is that the serenity and repose of autumn continues throughout the season.

©Michelle A. Potter