Last night, I took a glass of wine and sat out under the trellis in the courtyard, listening to the neighborhood’s pair of turtle-doves call. They stated their love for each other over and over. “Yes, the light has morphed,” I thought. The vines tumbling over the wall were lit up from within, a golden x-ray that I could almost pull at like taffy between my fingers. I picked up my cell phone, then put it down. “Don’t fiddle,” I told myself. “There is plenty to see here. Plenty to keep me occupied.” Habits…I gave me head a sharp shake as if to let them go.
As I reached towards my glass, I saw that two leaves had fallen, just so, as if I had placed them prettily under my sluice of red. “These autumn leaves…” I hummed a little Nat King Cole merrily to myself… “beneath my window…” even if it is a wistful song. For Summer is solid in France, a yearly right of passage or a coda, something earned the rest of the year. And yet Remi and I had given ours over entirely to working in this new house, then moving, an investment in our future. Neither of us saw the time passing but it has and I am relieved.
For now, so much has been shed, just like blooms that had once triumphed brightly and yet are no longer useful. The boxes have been unpacked and stacked and in the middle of the night when I had to find my way down to the kitchen in the dark, I knew the way.
As I looked up at the sunset’s scrawling across the crowds, I sipped slowly and let my shoulders drop. “Goodbye Summer, you beautiful swanning girl. See you next year…” A light popped on in the kitchen behind me, Remi coming down to watch the evening news on a very important day when an entire government had faded into the past. Yes, change is in the air.
Exactly, Jackie. Well, that was our Summers but we both had other things to capture our attention, just like that flitting butterfly. 😉
Thank you, beautiful Marsha. One of these days in person?
Yes, summer went far too rapidly this year. . .it was almost illusive, like trying to catch a butterfly. One moment it was there and then, as you've noted, the leaves are falling. . .
Sister, I love you so much! Your wish is my command…
Eh oui, what we do for our puppers. At least I know that you are eating well! 🙂
Heather, as always, I feel as if I am with you.
And I do so love being with you.
Lovely photos – they definitely have a feeling of summer ending – fallen leaves and petals, brown and yellow mixed in with the green. Le sigh! My honey started his school year commute today, so I am feeling a little wistful and end-of-summer myself! But I like the part about putting down your cell (or computer – hel-LO?!!) to just take in the sights and sounds around you.
Um, excusez-moi, but weren't you interviewed on a huge, national Canadian t.v. show recently?? Wasn't your blog featured, and weren't you practically Mary Tyler Moore with your vivaciousness and charm? Did you not only speak with authority and warmth but also make everyone wonder why YOU did not have your own t.v. show? If I am not mistaken about this event (if it wasn't just a dream), would you be so kind as to post a link to this segment? Or, perhaps, because your readers would LOVE to hear about this experience from beginning to end, even do a post about it??? Just sayin'.
love,
a fan : )
Extraordinary words and photos. My own shoulders relaxed as I read this (inside a Red Roof Inn in Benton Harbor, MI — "dog friendly")
Yes! I agree with you so fully and it is feeling really wonderful just to stop and take stock of where I am, where we are after such an eventful Summer. I am hoping that yours was filled with the best of adventures.
Bisous,
H
Hello Heather,
Change is most certainly in the air but with sunny days and blue skies still with us, we are clinging on to the last breaths of summer.
But here you have captured the season's shift towards autumn. How wonderful it must feel to have finally arrived at your destination and to have the first sense of being at home in one's surroundings. New adventures are bound to be right around the corner, but for now take time to reflect and be still. Tomorrow will come……