I love Halloween. Not the costume holiday with the trick or treating of my past, but the way it feels inside my being every year at this time as the season turns and things get wiggly. Fat spiders. Ripe pumpkins. Then the miracle of decay. It's like life expands and expands until it has nowhere to go except return to the beginning. It bursts, scatters it's seeds and falls down.
And the whole thing is just so beautiful. So mysterious. What a full and amazing miracle the seasons are.
The garden is falling asleep. We've had 2 nights of light frost and the more delicate plants have burned leaves. They whisper their good-byes as they slowly lie down.
Thank goodness I can watch it all from the comfort of my house.
Where I have my friends, my computer, my imagination to keep me entertained.
But I thought it was time I ducked out to grab a few photos for you. Of the Maximillian sunflowers.
The Guanajuato Blue Salvia.
The gourds and vines, letting go.
The vast beauty of things passing.
Beautiful entry today, Judy. I do not like Halloween--I have always been afraid of people in masks.
ReplyDeleteBut I LOVE the season for all the reasons you mentioned. And in the winter I hunker down, content in my solitude and I do far more of my painting than at any other time of year.
I love the bleakness of the world when it has fallen asleep and the first snow has not blanketed the world.
Anyway, your photos and words worked in a beautiful harmony--thereby matching your love of how "it" all works so well, these seasons, together.
take care
Just beautiful. I love how you photograph and capture the mood... You make decay sound enticing. Happy Halloween Time to you. I have truly enjoyed your garden....kathy
ReplyDeleteBeautiful the way you see the magic all around you in nature. Love your garden! Happy Halloween Judy♥
ReplyDeletelove the gourds:O) Beautiful post:O)
ReplyDeleteJudy.
ReplyDeletei love when you post.
you have quickly become a huge inspiration in my life.
really.
i don't know what else to say.
xxa
these photos are BEAUTIFUL!! what did you do to get them to look like that?
ReplyDeleteBIG hugs, smiles + love to you!
~ jill
I love this post Judy! The writing is so poetic and your photos are too!
ReplyDeletesuch gorgeous photos, totally love what you wrote. I don't think I have ever read such a perfect description of the changing of the seasons. Living in MN the coming and going of each season is pure bliss to me and I would find it hard to live somewhere the leaves don't change color and one day just blends into the next. I LOVE this time of year. Thanks for the delight of your words and photos!!!!
ReplyDeleteBig sister earth taps you on the shoulder from behind and yells "TAG" as she darts around the corner. She leaves a glory in her wake, doesn't she?!?!
ReplyDeleteIt's not clear if these photos were the fastest photos ever taken - I know how much you love the cold - or if you actually bought a telephoto lens and with tea in hand, shot them from the comfort of your dining room. It doesn't matter either way because they capture that stunning, darkening, withering beauty of this witching time. How do I adore it...and thee? Let me count the ways...
I agree with you, there is just something in the air at this time of the year..the spirit of Halloween.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I just bought your new book and absolutely love it. I already work with wax and Plaster of Paris but I learned some new things. Thanks so much!
wonderful photos where did you find the maximillion sunflowers -they are the best! I'd like to grow some here in so. jersey. we havent had frost yet but all is getting quiet in plant land. we know its coming! hopefully not till after halloween so the weenies dont freeze!
ReplyDeleteoh my, those sunflowers are spectacular. I will have to look for some next year! I also love seeing your journal pages, the riches you've been rolling in!
ReplyDeleteJudy your photos are to die for.
ReplyDeleteWell, they are a lot about dying today aren't they? LOL I hate to think of this in people terms or my personal body aging...now why did you MAKE ME think that?
But this old vine ain't dead yet so I am going out to paint plein air this morning hoping to capture some Halloween gourds and scarecrows for cards for the kids.
Have a Happy Hallowed Day!
There really is such beauty in every season. How blessed are we to get to witness them come and go so beautifully for our time here?
ReplyDeleteEnjoythe spooky, Beautiful Judy. Much Love !
Oh, the Salvia. A person could Faint.
ReplyDeleteSo, I was minding my own business and I heard someone talk about you on a podcast.
It's Judy Wise all the time time time!!
Have you decided to come to artfest? I don't want to cancel my plans.
Thank you. This is a beautiful read.
ReplyDeleteYour words, your garden, your art, you...magical!
ReplyDeletegreat pix
ReplyDeleteAlthough it is Spring here Judy, I had to drop by and say how much I loved your take on autumn. Other than the colour of leaves turning, I think it is a rather forgotten season. As a middle-ager, I feel the fragile, beauty of autumn in my bones. Thank-you!
ReplyDeletestunning....how you and the seasons slay me.
ReplyDeleteJust listened to your interview with Ricë at Voodoo Café and enjoyed it immensely. So I came to see your blog and I'm enjoying it immensely as well. I've marked it and will read backwards slowly. Your creativity is so wide-ranging. How many people have said to me "why do you jump from one thing to another?", but I think you would understand. I also like your blog because it's so Oregonian, reminds me of home (Salem).
ReplyDeletebest from Tunisia,
nadia
just beautiful... all of it, even the end of season... the loveliness of decay...
ReplyDeleteOh Judy such wonderful photos and poetic words. Just wanted to let you know your "honey badger don't give a shit" on your journal I'm going to have to show my son. It made me laugh out loud! He thinks that video is the funniest thing. He even has a screen pic for his Iphone. Being 13 I guess he finds this so much funnier than we do but it has become a family joke! Do you remember where you got that?
ReplyDeleteThat was emailed to me by a friend who knew I loved that video ... but I'll bet if you Google "Honey Badger" and click on images you'll find it. xo
ReplyDeleteOkay, can I talk to you for a bit? Don't go waxing anything, because this is important. Do you know that I Just Yesterday, showed my brother the honey badger video for the first time in his life?! Do you know that my partner is constantly told by her coworkers she don't give a sh*t? Do you know that the Dogwood tree is the Missouri state flower? Or, tree? Oh, maybe the dogwood is the Missouri state flower...
ReplyDeleteOh, forget I mentioned it. It has nothing to do with your wonderful post, anyway.