October is written in orange, scrawled loopily with a fat crayon. This much we know and I have the photos to prove it. But not the golden glow of Jack O’Lanterns grinning in the night but the warm rust of ochre warming my fingertips, a lasting stain and bright.
Millions of years ago, my part of the world, Provence, was just one long sad sea. When the continents leaned into one another, conspiratorially, limestone and sandstone built up over time, leaving us with the surprise of ochre.
Ochre has been mined for pigments since the dawn of humanity. It traces out the animals dancing across the caves of Lascaux, the Egyptians dabbed it tenderly across their lips and cheeks…
Such earth equalled wealth for those who mined it and such was the family practice along a certain stretch of the Luberon for over one hundred years. And while the natural has long been supplanted by the synthetic, the land here is still thriving.
It seems to me to be that now is a month of abundance, despite an/our American predilection for Thanksgiving in November. And the varying terrain along these former ochre mines is rife…with life.
So lets hear it for the shift and sway of earth giving us the goods over and over.
Let us use them wisely.
For we are indeed rich, when we take in all that we have. Around us and in who we are.
I know, I know how often I say that but right now, as we dive towards the winter sleep on this top of the planet while friends are awakening to spring below on the other, it bares repeating.
Listen to the scribble of the undertow.
What is in your heart during this month?
What are you hoping for that lies ahead?
It is October, a perfect time to do a bit of (gentle!) digging…
…is there anything just below the surface that is calling for attention?
…for while we all learn our lessons and endure our scars…
…all the more reason to welcome a whopping batch of joy when that is what life throws us, to roll around in it gleefully, creating moments to carry us through the months ahead…
For yes, our lives are inscribed indelibly in a lasting ochre. Let us try to write it well.
Today’s post is my October contribution to the “By Invitation Only” series. To see what the talented bloggers from the around the world have concocted for “Thoughts on October” please visit Splenderosa here.
Wishing you all a wonderful month ahead…
Who, you mean PigPen? 😉
Oh Sister, thank you!!!! But remember, dig gently please. You of all people are always so wisely reminding me to have compassion for myself. Great advice–not to mention the idea of deciding on the choice where you take better care of yourself–I can't stop thinking about that!!!
I love youuuu,
H
Amelia! That is some crazy business!! We are linked!!! 🙂 I love that…
Bisous,
H
Merci Jacqueline, wishing you the same…
And indeed…you did! 🙂 Heeheehee…
Thank you Leslie–hope all is well with you and your gang…Are you still getting to take the boat out now and again?
xo,
H
Oh Ann, you are so fabulous–darn those nasty ogres! What are we going to do with them?
I'll explain more in my next post but these were taken in the Colorado Provencale. Absolutely empty compared to Roussillon, which we stopped through on our way home.
Loree, have you ever read Suze's writing? That's her with the black cat logo up above in the comments. I know that you would love her and what she does as much as I do. Just a thought.
And wow! I wish that I was such a dynamic color. I think that my color might be the deep electric blue of when the sun has gone down and the moon hasn't written yet. 🙂
Thanks so much, V, sending them right back at you!
PS. I wonder what the yarn is made of…?