Beautiful November

Yesterday was a bright sunny day and I was lucky enough to be out and about and able to enjoy it. Today is softer and more misty but to my eyes, still beautiful. I know November can be raw, damp and dank and it is easy to be depressed by the dark mornings and the winter evenings drawing in but I've never disliked this month. When the last of the leaves go, I'm happy to see the well remembered shape of each tree re-appear-

The first verse of Roy Campbell's poem Autumn sums it up perfectly-



I love to see, when leaves depart,

the clear anatomy arrive,

Winter, the paragon of art,

that kills all form of life and feeling

save what is pure and will survive.

I'm always surprised how much colour there is in the landscape, whether it is the last remaining berries-

or the patterns in a field-

And there are some places, like this beech hedge, where the autumn colours linger into winter-

So even on a rapidly darkening November day, there is something to enjoy

Autumn Evening
The day sinks gently into quiet repose

with silvered lavender and fading rose.

 Bright berries are muted by the misty air,

stripped by the first frosts the creepers hang bare.

There's no sun, no clouds, all is silent grey

And yet on this tranquil Autumn day

I have no wish for the summer to stay

Despite falling leaves and withered grasses

It is in peace not sadness that the old year passes.