When Spiders Rule
A chill wind blows the yellowing leaves off the trees. They drift down to the ground like giant snowflakes. The air is pregnant with the feel of the coming holidays. Fall has truly come with the sudden drop in temperatures. November appears as a mirror image of March. November is the vibrant color of decay while March is the decaying color of about-to-burst-forth Spring.
The birds are at the bird feeder all the time now. They are not stopped by our presence when we come to fill the feeder or blow leaves under it. Nothing stops them. They swoop around the feeder and the surrounding trees like Kamikaze pilots, darting here and there recklessly. The squirrels are in a frenzy as well, stock piling and burying acorns and walnuts which they will retrieve without fail in a month or so in a snow-covered land.
The trees are most beautiful for me at this time of year, when many of them are bare and a scattering of leaves remain on dark brown branches. The leaves that remain on the trees blow on the limbs with dainty grace in their precarious positions. Yet these are the survivors. The other leaves have fallen and gone the way all living things eventually go. Most trees have lost all their leaves and they stand in stark contrast against the blue sky, the stormy sky, even the night sky. They are perhaps most beautiful at night, like arms reaching up to the darkness trying to grab at the stars twinkling between the branches. Moonlight dances on their limbs.
November is the last glimmer of color and in some places the color seems to be predominantly yellow. A carpet of yellow lines the woods now. And now one can see inside the woods, so dark and impenetrable in summer. Some forests have carpets of oak leaves– dark brown tan in color. Or there are forest paths with variegated colors– vibrant crimsons against yellows and faded greens and tawny tans. The unmown lawns are now taken over by the spiders and, at moments, one can see a world of webs covering fields that only appear in a certain slant of sunlight. It is the silent take over of the spiders before the snows come.
The yellow, the brown, the crimson leaves are complemented by the ubiquitous yellow, brown and crimson mums that appear on the roadside near mail boxes, on porches or along driveways. These tough little flowers withstand frosty chills and stand tall throughout most of November. Hearty souls and so giving in their colorful, velvety splendor.
Soon the season of lights will begin. Autumn, as a season, seems the fastest to come and go. I hold each moment in my hands as a treasure, but the moments all sift through my fingers like grains of sand. Then Christmas comes and fades in a flash, and we are into the Nor’Easter blizzards of January. Another year is gone. The years do go faster as you grow older. We go about living our lives, trying, against our natures, to treasure the good moments. Now in November, at Thanksgiving, it is our time to say thank you. Inspired by the Native Americans let us thank the earth. Let us say thank you to the trees for their constantly changing beauty, to the stars for their piercing presence in the night sky, to the leaves for their beauteous colors, to the sun for its life-giving power, to the Spring for its awakening hope, to the Summer for its warm, thriving growth, to the Fall for its bounty, to the Winter for a time of renewal, to the snow flakes for their hushed, white silence that transforms our world, to the animals for their pure souls, to our families and friends for their love, and, lastly but mostly, to the Higher Power of our belief.
Happy Thanksgiving and may you each be blessed with the all embracing, pervasive Love in nature.
MOONSIDE 
Beautifully penned and so soulful, Ellen! Your writing not only creates feelings; it creates visions! Visions made of nature’s palette mixed with ethereal glimmers! A very precious read, my friend! Blessed for being here. Light, love, and blessings your way, today and always! ✨🙏💖🌻🌈
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November 23, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Thank you so much, Susana! Much appreciated!! ❤️
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November 23, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Ellen…the artwork is beyond beautiful. So delicate and touching. It reached into me and I felt the beauty of nature that you had so generously shared with us. Truly incredible work to go along with your quiet words of wisdom. This post is so beautiful and meaningful. Thank you so much for this gift. ❤️
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November 23, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Oh, Gigi, I am so glad you got so much out of my post. You give us so many gifts everyday. Glad to give you something that touched you!! ❤️
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November 23, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Your pictures are glorious, as are your poetic words. May you and your sweet husband enjoy a delightful and gracious Thanksgiving!
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November 23, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Thank you, Dayle! The same to you!
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November 23, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Thank you for sharing your spectacular fall photos, Ellen. Your prose reflecting on the seasons was pleasingly nostalgic. The seasons do barrel ahead so fast! 🙂
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November 23, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Thank you, Nancy! So very glad you liked them!! 🙏🏽
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November 23, 2025 at 8:36 PM
🙏✝️🙏
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November 23, 2025 at 8:41 PM
What a gorgeous post in both photography and beautiful prose.
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November 23, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Thank you so very much, Dale!! I am so glad you liked it! You’re so kind!
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November 23, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Gorgeous!
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November 23, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Thank you so much!
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November 23, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Your words flow like water from a mountain stream on a warm summer’s day.
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November 24, 2025 at 2:47 AM
Thank you, Ronnie! How are you doing?
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November 24, 2025 at 8:27 AM
OK, Ellen. I’ll send you an email this week, sometime.
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November 25, 2025 at 2:32 PM
It would be good to hear from you, Ronnie.
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November 25, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Even people who do not like grey November will fall in love with it after your beautiful hymn for this quiet but thorny month.
The longer we live the shorter are years, more pleasant the voices of friends!
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November 24, 2025 at 8:24 AM
Thank you so much, Alexander!!
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November 24, 2025 at 8:30 AM
And, yes, shorter years, and friends more important!
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November 24, 2025 at 8:32 AM
My pleasure Ellen.
Enjoy your coming Thanksgiving Day!
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November 24, 2025 at 8:34 AM
And you as well, thank you, Alexander!🙏🏽
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November 24, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Happy Thanksgiving Day!
May it will be cozy, warm and enjoyable!🙏
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November 27, 2025 at 9:14 AM
Thank you!! And yours as well!
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November 27, 2025 at 9:22 AM
These are such lovely words Ellen, a true ode to the underappreciated month of November. I really enjoyed looking at the photos as well. which seem to exude a beautiful abstract quality, with their spots of lively color played up against the neutrals. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving to you and hubby, this weekend.🍂❤️
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November 24, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Hi, Julie, thank you so much. Glad to words and photos meant something to you. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!! ❤️
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November 24, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Beautifully written, Ellen! I stand in awe of November as I read your words, and the startling concept that “November is the mirror image of March”. I am astounded by the words “November is the vibrant color of decay while March is the decaying color of about-to-burst-forth Spring”. Such are the wondrous patterns of nature. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your beloved.
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November 24, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Thank you, Dee! Glad you liked my post and some things struck you. Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family. Hope all is well.
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November 24, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Beautifully evocative photographs, Ellen. I love the spray of reds across the Autumn foliage.
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November 25, 2025 at 10:32 AM
Thanks, dear Cheyenne. The place just begged to be photographed or painted. Everywhere you looked.
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November 25, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Ellen, great post, spot on in so many places. Loved this: “November is the vibrant color of decay while March is the decaying color of about-to-burst-forth Spring.”
The spider takeover sounds like a great B horror movie!
I know what you mean about Autumn and especially Christmas going by so fast. Did you have an Advent calendar as a kid where every day, you get to open another little door? Between that and the butchered Sears WishBook… pages turned down or ripped out, liberal use of those stinky markers… December seemed to crawl by. Now; boom! Wait… the ball is dropping? 🫤
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November 30, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Thank you, Daryl. Yeah, you right. It took forever as a child. Still have Advent calendars but the days go do fast even as you open each day. Take care, Ellen
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November 30, 2025 at 9:11 PM
What a lovely post. Thank you kindly.
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December 4, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Thank YOU!! 🙏🏽
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December 4, 2025 at 8:17 PM
I just want to check that you are receiving email from me alright, Ellen.
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December 5, 2025 at 8:42 AM
No, Ronnie, I am not receiving any email from you and I lost your latest address so I cannot email you.
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December 5, 2025 at 8:52 AM
So beautiful .There’s a place I won’t want to leave once I get there.
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December 19, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Thank you so much, Praveen!! Wishing you the heavenly joy I felt there!🌲
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December 19, 2025 at 10:34 AM
I am very grateful to you ☺️☺️
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December 19, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Grateful to you, too!
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December 19, 2025 at 12:23 PM