Ursa Major

It’s been a number of weeks since my last message, and I have nearly leapt over autumn! The colors seemed to come early this year, burning fiercely and fading quickly. Rusty reds and earthy browns still linger, but many of the trees have dropped their leaves and ridge lines invisible since early spring again appear through tangled branches. There have been bright days followed by nights full of stars. And we’ve had our tropical downpours that brought a day or two of warm winds along with drenching rain. Yesterday it rained, but this was a cold rain and the day was raw. As I write this morning it is snowing!

A few days back I awoke early and took a walk through the pastures.  It was still dark and the stars were brilliant. The Big Dipper emptied between the orchard and the barn, or perhaps its was Ursa Major with a belly full of stolen apples somersaulting across the meadow. Light slowly seeped in, the stars disappeared, and then the tops of birch and poplar lighted on the north side of the pastures. The extent of the frost was now visible, pastures and gardens fringed white. The sun climbed into from the Notch, too bright to look at, refracting through thousands of tiny imperfect prisms before melting them away.