When the Walnut Leaves Begin to Fall
(Open to full screen) (39 seconds long)
Labor Day weekend, a weekend I look forward to all summer long for the love of Fall, is here. It is not good to be this way. Religious leaders preach living in the present… for that is all we have. Another lesson to learn. This year for some reason I am feeling melancholic about the summer ending. Perhaps because it is a perfect day. A breeze shimmers through what I call the penny tree for when the wind blows the leaves look like so many pennies shimmering down from Heaven. The sun is so hot it tingles on the skin– yet it is not the strong sun of July that burns quickly. The angle of the sun in its diurnal slant is different. Summer is definitely slipping away.
The bees, wasps and yellow jackets are having a heyday in the goldenrod, Joe Pye Weed and Purple Loosestrife. The marsh is thick with flying insects going this way and that. My eyes capture swallowtails. Happily the monarchs are still here. A turkey vulture circles overhead. Some carrion must be nearby. Earlier we saw two golden hawks fly sunlit into the back field. A wisp of a cloud floats by in an otherwise perfectly blue sky. This summer has flown by in the blink of an eye like a fritillary flits by the flowers in the marsh.
The smell of fresh cut lawn is intoxicating to my raw senses. Soon the grass will cease to grow and the lush green will look washed out. All of its inhabitants in the metropolis beneath our feet will dig deep underground or turn off their bodily systems to overwinter– an amazing concept to a mammal. Some fill their bodies with a type of antifreeze. Nature never ceases to astound. This summer I have made my peace with the insects. Terrified of them as a child, I have come to love and respect them, indeed hold them in awe for the feats they accomplish. Our accomplishments pale as humans, supposedly so superior.
No longer do I see turtles sunning on rocks or snakes coming out to bask in the heat of the road. Some species of birds have left already– unbeknownst to me. I just know that some I used to see are gone and the bird song of the spring mating season is a fleeting memory. One lone humming bird flies around the marsh intermittently, causing excitement upon spotting him.
It is the time to dead head the flowers of summer. It is the time of Black-Eyed Susans and Peonies and Sebum. And soon it will be the time of the Mums.
With each gust of wind yellow finger-like walnut leaves shower down on our heads– like large yellow snowflakes– a foretaste of snowfalls to come. The sun’s shadows grow long as twilight is near. Soon the white cloud lions and tigers and bears will retire into the black cave of night. And the summer will die and in dying, give birth to fall. The comfortable rhythm of the changing season beats in our sometimes unhearing hearts.
MOONSIDE 
What a lovely word picture you have painted of the waning summer and the onset of fall. Thank you.
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September 2, 2023 at 10:36 AM
Thank you, Nancy. Happy weekend!
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September 3, 2023 at 3:23 PM
What a beautifully written essay, Ellen. It almost makes me sad for summer to be over though autumn is my favorite time of year.
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September 2, 2023 at 10:39 AM
Thank you so much, Kellye. I love Autumn. It is even good in New York City.
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September 3, 2023 at 3:26 PM
Have a great weekend!
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September 3, 2023 at 3:34 PM
That was so beautiful. I loved reading it, hypnotized by your descriptions of life and beauty. Thank you for this. ❤️
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September 2, 2023 at 12:35 PM
Thank YOU!! ❣️ Your Chicklets are beings of a beautiful world.
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September 2, 2023 at 12:55 PM
Thank you. Your words, today, made me feel magical. I felt as if I were seeing the insects right along with you. You gave me a gift and I’m grateful.
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September 2, 2023 at 1:29 PM
Oh, I am so glad you could feel the whole scene. It was beautiful!
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September 3, 2023 at 3:37 PM
Painting a picture, with words.
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September 3, 2023 at 6:25 AM
Trying to, Ronnie. Glad you are OK. Hope you can get to think about going home soon.
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September 3, 2023 at 10:09 AM
Any time of the year is great. Autumn is also mesmerizing. Especially the beginning of autumn. How fleeting everything is. And the walnut leaves leave their tree, gliding down beautifully and quickly to become part of our earth.
How well you captured the mood!
May autumn be quiet and peaceful.
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September 3, 2023 at 10:06 AM
Yes, may it be healthy, quiet and peaceful . Thank you for your apt comment!
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September 3, 2023 at 3:16 PM
I wish you beautiful and poignant pictures of autumn!🍁🍂🍉
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September 3, 2023 at 3:43 PM
Thank you so much! I wish you poetry and insights with the coming of the end of summer.
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September 3, 2023 at 3:45 PM
Thank you. What a nice wish!
Let it come true. 🙏🪄💖
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September 3, 2023 at 9:40 PM
🙏🏽❣️🙂
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September 3, 2023 at 10:22 PM
Oh, El, I so love your word pictures! Living for the present is a good thing, but anticipating what wonder is to come with the changing seasons is like a dream you wait to experience. Looking forward to the awe to come while still enjoying the wonder of the moment is a gift you share well.
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September 3, 2023 at 11:44 AM
Thank you very much, Dayle. Hope it is a good Fall. So many things wrong in the world though. Hope you have a great weekend!
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September 3, 2023 at 3:13 PM
Ditto, sweet friend. May it be restful and revitalizing for both you and Tom!
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September 4, 2023 at 10:01 AM
Thank you so much, Dayle.
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September 4, 2023 at 10:16 AM
Thanks, Ellen.
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September 3, 2023 at 2:15 PM
Very beautiful and descriptive.
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September 14, 2023 at 7:43 PM
Thank you so much for visiting and leaving a lovely comment. Will be visiting you soon.
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September 14, 2023 at 9:56 PM
You are so welcome. Great post.
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September 14, 2023 at 10:12 PM
Thank you!! 🙏🏽
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September 14, 2023 at 10:16 PM
You write so I can see it Ellen…so good
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September 16, 2023 at 11:09 PM
Thank you so much!! You write so I can hear, Gary… so good.
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September 17, 2023 at 1:31 AM
I swear, Gary…. I can’t find the post of yours I read when I wrote this comment… but I could swear I heard geese. I was trying to see if you even mentioned geese but that is how alive your piece was. My husband and no longer have our little barn and are in New York City so I hunger for writing like yours that brings it all back. That was what I meant by my comment but it came out sort of flip unfortunately. Sorry.🙏🏽
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September 17, 2023 at 10:17 PM
Bonjour BELLE DAME
Votre amitié et votre salutation sont très appréciées
J’espère que vous passerez une excellente journée !
Merci de vos commentaires
Il est pour moi toujours agréable de venir vous saluer quand le temps me le permet
Bise Bernard
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September 24, 2023 at 2:29 AM
Bise, Bernard, a vous! Vous etes toujour plein d’amitie! C’est magnifique! 🙏🏽💖
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September 24, 2023 at 9:56 AM
Absolutely beautiful writing!
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March 3, 2024 at 10:33 PM
Thank you so very much!🙏🏽❤️
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March 4, 2024 at 8:26 AM