Just when it seems like the gray may finally be settling in for months, it’s tamarack season. On my way to pay the yearly property taxes today, I realized those trees were rich gold. Then that amber, too, will pass, and I’ll forget about that autumn splendor, until next year. I’m not a fan of that phrase “it’s all good,” because nothing is all good, but this autumn has been radiantly gorgeous.

Someone remarked me the other day that there’s so little time in our lives, but late fall holds a profusion of time. Night closes in early these afternoons, and our after dinner strolls along the road have ceased for now. The children sprawl before the wood stove. Our house smells of slightly overripe apples, and around us glow the last vestiges of this fall.

The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore.

– Vincent Van Gogh

Woodbury Village, Vermont