The weather in New England so far this fall has been strange -- some weeks are cool and dry, others humid, wet and warm. The odd fluctuations appear connected to the unusual number of Atlantic hurricanes. Despite these manifestations of climate change, though, autumn in New England is persisting.
The fall fruits and vegetables have been great this year
and while the fields have stayed quite green, the trees are turning beautiful shades of red, yellow and orange.
Together with our friends Miriam and Brett, we spent a couple afternoons kayaking in beautiful New Hampshire lakes.
The loons were still quite active. We were pretty sure we were seeing adolescent and parent loons together. Their soft hoot -- "are you there? are we diving now?" -- carried across the water.
We also saw Great Blue Herons -- patiently standing and waiting for fish to pounce on, and enormous in flight.
I liked paddling under overhanging trees, looking up at the fall leaves from below.
The weather kept changing. Dark clouds gathered,
and then we were paddling in the rain.
The reward - a beautiful rainbow above the fall-painted leaves!
[a postscript: Our aunt Ruth Turner died yesterday at the age of 89, at her home in Sidcup, England. She was beloved by many, many people. Ruth had a keen ability to pay attention the world she saw around her; I can hear her say, "Doesn't that look (funny!)(pretty!) ....". Visiting with Ruth over the years, seeing things through her eyes, enhanced my ability to notice the surprising, interesting, beautiful things around us. I am deeply grateful for the gift of time with her.]
