I meant to prune my grape vines, plant the seeds I bought late in the winter, clean out all my closets. Now that the harvest is in, the time is clearly ripe for regretting. Or not. I think: not. In mythology, even a basilisk, the breath of which could wilt plants and crack stones, could not destroy rue. Weasels bitten by basilisks could eat rue to recover and return to fight. Perhaps my tendency to regret is a talisman, but for now, I am trying not to let even a single thing in this autumn pass my notice. A couple of weeks ago, I washed the quilt that I will be using all winter, substantial, a little heavy, on our bed at night, to curl up in when doing the crossword, to wrap around me when I'm working here during the day. I am loving the light of autumn, of walking around the neighborhood with Bruiser and seeing, just seeing, the brilliance of everything--leaves tree bush flower stem berry--blazing and burning. It seems to me that the whole valley is, sometimes, glowing, not just with color but with an equinoctial slant to the light. What's the point of regret? Bruiser loves the colder air in the morning and at night. We take a bike ride around the neighborhood at dusk and it is all beautiful. All of it.
TAGS: comfort me with apples, harvest, grapes & roses
Glory, glory.
ReplyDeleteI love the autumn as well, and cannot stop myself from collecting assorted leaves in colours of rust, ruby and sunset (j.crew colours).
ReplyDeleteThere is something in the air in this valley alright. For several days now I have been overwhelmed by the beautiful colors and feeling that is autumn.
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ReplyDeleteThis is so unrelated but I love the word rue. Once, in trying to make a Thomas Keller recipe, I needed the herb rue to go with the cippolline onions. The grocery store, obviously, didn't have it but the garden store did. I planted it, after I used the 7 leaves Keller called for, and the leaves turned bluer in the fall.
ReplyDeleteThe brilliance of everything. Yes. And that even the basilisk cannot overcome rue? A little known, though essential, fact. I needed to know that. All of it.
ReplyDelete(I also love the golden delicious apples in blue tubs beneath red&green baskets, the musicians - what great faces, and the gorgeous colors of harvest Joy - which needs to be in exactly that kind of off-focus)