Celebration of Autumn

Autumn Fires

Robert Louis Stevenson (from A Child’s Garden of Verses, 1913)

In the other gardens And all up the vale, From the autumn bonfires See the smoke trail! Pleasant summer over And all the summer flowers, The red fire blazes, The gray smoke towers. Sing a song of seasons! Something bright in all! Flowers in the summer, Fires in the fall! Autumn Days by Estelle White: Autumn days, when the grass is jewelled And the silk in a chestnut shell Jet planes meeting in the air to be refuelled All these things I love so well So I mustn’t forget No, I mustn’t forget To say a great big thank you No, I mustn’t forget. Clouds that look like familiar faces And winter’s moon with frosted rings Smell of bacon as I fasten up my laces And the milkman sings. Whipped–up spray that is rainbow–scattered And a swallow curving in the sky Shoes go comfy though they’re worn out and they’re battered And the taste of apple pie. Scent of gardens when the rain’s been falling And a minnow darting down a stream Picked–up engine that’s been stuttering and stalling And a win for my home team. So I mustn’t forget No, I mustn’t forget To say a great big thank you No, I mustn’t forget. A leaf fluttered in through the window this morning, as if supported by the rays of the sun, a bird settled on the fire escape, joy in the task of coffee, joy accompanied me as I walked. Anais Nin Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime. Martin Luther

Perspective

Open your eye that you may see
The beauty that around you lies,
The misty loveliness of the dawn,
The glowing colors of the skies;
The Child's bright eager eyes of blue,
The gnarled and wrinkled face of age,
The bird with crimson on his wing
Whose spirit never knew a cage;
The roadsides blooming goldenrod
So brave through summer's wind and heat,
The brook that rushes to the sea
With courage that naught may defeat.

Open your eyes that you may see
The wonder that around you lies;
It will enrich your every day
And make you glad and kind and wise.
- Emma Boge Whisenand, Open Your Eyes

What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise.

- Oscar Wilde

When I hear somebody sigh, "Life is hard,"

I am always tempted to ask, "Compared to what?"

- Sydney J. Harris

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity;

an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

- Winston Churchill

There has been much tragedy in my life;

at least half of it actually happened.

- Mark Twain