It’s been really yellow here lately.

We’ve had the most dramatic autumn in memory here. There’s been so much stunning yellow foliage that the local newspaper even ran a front page story about it.  On the final day of the drama we had a really crisp calm morning and as the sun was rising, I watched a huge big-leaf maple in our neighborhood drop all of its leaves.

They piled up in a perfect circular pattern under the tree, on the yard, in the street and on the cars parked below it. It was like watching enormous snowflakes. By mid-morning the tree was bare. All that remained of the beautiful show was the thick pile of bright yellow leaves in the exact outline of their tree.

Then the leaves in the street got driven over and turned to squishy mush, and the ones on the cars were brushed off so by lunchtime the whole scene was gone. Later that afternoon the weather changed, and a big wind and rain blew all the yellow away. All that remained was a fleeting memory of the yellow and my few pictures that didn’t really capture it.

I always feel like Autumn is a time to reflect on our time, our just-completed season on the boat, our families and our lives. There’s a certain sadness about the fleeting nature of everything around us and it’s particularly obvious and apparent in the fall. We have a tradition of remembering the loss of family and friends with a celebration on the Day of the Dead which fits very well into this reflection. There’s a vivid reminder in nature’s drama around us that our own time is fleeting as well.

But, it’s also a time to plan and prepare for what’s ahead. We’re busy setting our schedules for 2024, organizing and planning what we’re going to do next summer, and getting all the details taken care of so we can do it again. We’re also hard at work on the boat, prepping it for winter and doing projects to make it better for next summer. Like the tree’s dormant stage in winter, our dormant stage doesn’t show much on the outside, but there’s a lot going on that is really important when it comes summertime.

I’m a little sad that the colorful show at the maple tree couldn’t continue. I really enjoy that the cycle goes on though. That’s the most beautiful part.

Today the trees are bare, there’s frost on the grass, the sky is crystal clear and we’ve got a fire going in the woodstove at our house. We’re hard at work on boat projects and office projects and website work.

It looks a lot like winter here today.