.beauty in nature.

Ahh. . . I LOVE this time of year! Autumn. It is a time of transition, color, and beauty. When I lack inspiration, all I have to do is look to nature. I altered this photo of a tree I had taken yesterday to give it a vintage feel. Mostly I did it to be able to enhance the lines and texture, as to not be distracted by the intense blue sky. And boy was it intense! There is such beauty in nature. During fall, as well as in springtime, I am left in awe by what wondrous lovelies there are to see around us. O, Autumn, the Muse of so many a-poet! I shall leave with you all today a piece from the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:

Thou comest, Autumn, heralded by the rain,

with banners, by great gales incessant fanned,

brighter than brightest silks of Samarcand,

and stately oxen harnessed to they wain!

Thou standest, like imperial Charlemagne,

upon thy bridge of gold; thy royal hand

outstretched with benedictions o'er the land,

blessing the farms through all thy vast domain!

Thy shield is the red harvest moon, suspended

so long beneath the heaven's o'erhanging eaves;

thy steps are by the farmer's prayers attended;

Like flames upon an altar shine the sheaves;

and, following thee, in thy ovation splendid,

thine almoner, the wind, scatters the golden leaves!