The Shine of Fall

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“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.” –  George Eliot

This morning I took a run around my favorite urban lake and was amazed to see how fast the leaves were falling. We had just returned from a week away in the heat and sun of Florida and in that week it feels as if autumn has come and gone. Despite the warm weather, the leaves are past their prime and falling like rain throughout the air. Swirling colors or red, orange and yellow fly through the sky like birds and land piled up on the sidewalk.

The shine of fall is on its way out and there are only a few more weeks left until we reach the barren browns of November. Fall is always one of my favorite seasons in Minnesota as the light is so intense and the colors are truly a testament of the magic of Mother Nature. The air is pure and I feel so alive with energy. I try to take as much of it as I can possibly can, and store it inside me to help get me through the cold, colorless days of winter that lie ahead.

Sometimes it works. But usually I have to fly south at least once during the winter months for a break. I am lucky I can otherwise I would find it very difficult to survive a long Minnesota winter without walking barefoot in the sand or feeling the wind against my legs.

As for now, I reflect on the gorgeous colors of the shine of fall and what remains. Here are some of my favorite photos from fall in Minnesota.

“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower”. –  Albert Camus

 

“Now Autumn’s fire burns slowly along the woods and day by day the dead leaves fall and melt”. –  William Allingham

A common view for me as I either run, bike or walk around this lake every single day. Lake Harriet, in Southwest Minneapolis.

“There is a harmony in autumn, and a luster in its sky, which through the summer is not heard or seen, as if it could not be, as if it had not been”! –  Percy Bysshe Shelley

“I know the lands are lit, with all the autumn blaze of Goldenrod”. –  Helen Hunt Jackson

“I trust in nature for the stable laws of beauty and utility. Spring shall plant and autumn garner to the end of time”. –  Robert Browning

Like everything these days, autumn seemed to come and go all too fast. Unfortunately, time seems to stand still in the long, cold days of winter. But at least I will have a chance to catch my breath. Oh I love the seasons!

This post was inspired by the Weekly Photo Challenge: Shine. 

30 thoughts on “The Shine of Fall”

    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Thanks Louise for the comment and the note! Too fast for my own good these days! I need to slow down! 😌

      Reply ↓
  2. Miriam – Australia – I’m a wonder lusting woman, a musician, a freelance travel writer and magazine columnist. Utterly passionate about travel and life and turning the ordinary moments into the extraordinary. My motto is “just do it”.
    Miriam on said:

    What a beautiful post Nicole. 🌿❤️

    Reply ↓
    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Thanks Miriam!

      Reply ↓
    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Thanks so much!

      Reply ↓

  4. You and I are on the same page today: autumn. What beautiful views you have at your lake! I hope you can suck up enough of fall to get you through winter. 🙂 Have a great week, Nicole.

    janet

    Reply ↓
    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Thanks Janet! 🙂

      Reply ↓
  5. Ali Grimshaw – I am a lover of questions, a hope rebel and a safe place to land. I contribute to the world as an educator, life coach, facilitator and poet. I am lit up by helping others find their authentic voice. I lead writing circles online that provide clarity and community for women around the world. All photographs and words are mine unless otherwise credited. © Ali Grimshaw
    flashlight batteries on said:

    What lovely colors. Thanks for the journey to your corner of the world. Shine on.

    Reply ↓
    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Thank you!

      Reply ↓

  6. Pingback: Shine: Sunrise | What's (in) the picture?

  7. One of my best friends lives in Winona, I think of moving there, but then I think of what she says about winters. I like summer there, maybe I’ll become a snowbird. The photos…all of them…with the sky, trees, lake, sky are just stunningly awesome.

    Reply ↓
    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Thanks! 🙂

      Reply ↓
  8. heartandsoul974 – I am a happily married wife, mom,sister,daughter and WOMAN, who loves to write and has always loved it. As a young child I wrote short stories and as I grew I began to log my thoughts and feelings in a journal. It's been many years that I haven't written because of lack of confidence. Now I am at it again, doing what I love. You are invited to join me in my blog about everyday living in a small town. I hope YOU are living a life filled with joy and peace.❤️
    heartandsoul974 on said:

    Beautiful photos of the fall season! It’s so quick and fleeting…that’s why it is so magical! 🍂

    Reply ↓
    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Thank you and yes so true!

      Reply ↓
    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Thank you so much!

      Reply ↓
  10. lexklein – I’m a restless, world-wandering, language-loving, book-devouring traveler trying to straddle the threshold between a traditional, stable family life and a free-spirited, irresistible urge to roam. Even when I was young, I always wanted to be somewhere else. I was the kid who loved camp, vacations, sleepovers, and all forms of transportation. Did my restlessness spring from a love of languages and other cultures? From a fiction fixation and all the places I’ve visited on the pages of a globeful of authors? I think it’s more primordial, though, an innate itch that demands scratching at regular intervals. I’m sure I won’t have a travel story every time I add to this blog, but I’ve got a lot! I’m a pretty happy camper (literally), but there is some angst as well as excitement in always having one foot out the door. Come along for the trip as I take the second step …
    lexklein on said:

    Yes, we need to stock up on that shiny warmth of autumn golds and oranges before our worlds turn gray and colorless!

    Reply ↓
    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Yes, I hate the colorless months but it only makes spring, summer and fall that much better!

      Reply ↓
  11. A Wandering Memory – Seasoned traveler and aspiring photographer. I am a huge advocate of living life and have had many incredible experiences throughout my years. I just hope the next 30 years are just as amazing!
    A Wandering Memory on said:

    Thats is an incredible set of images you have shared… Simply stunning! The reflections are near on perfect

    Reply ↓
    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Thank you so much!

      Reply ↓
  12. Tom Schultz – Was there ever a time that I did not love writing? If so, I can’t remember back that far. A decade or so ago, along with other life changes, I started exploring fiction, memoirs, and creative nonfiction to complement my essays. For me, writing is always about the melody and the rhythm, as well as the light and the image. Around the same time, I went to law school as a “nontraditional” (read middle-aged) student. After a couple stressful days in an auditorium at Michigan State University, packed with 1,000 other folks taking a bar exam, I survived and joined the Michigan bar as a newbie lawyer. I have the opportunity to write a lot at the day job, but felt the need for a place to express more creativity than is allowed within the four corners of a legal brief, and to share my feelings with others. Voila! Blogging. When I began, I thought my posts would be all about writing. Serendipity is a gentle goddess, though, and I soon rediscovered my passion for photography. With the aid of my fellow bloggers, I have worked on presenting a vision and, hopefully, conveying a sense of spirit through pictures as well as words. Politics has always been my passion, but not what passes for politics in our time, poisoned as it is with partisan rancor. No thanks, not interested in that scene. Only as we as a society can reintroduce spirituality, in all its emanations and wonder, into the political process (in the broadest sense) can we really extricate ourselves from the swamp and find a path forward. And it would surely help if we could in our journey find faith between men and women, too. The arts suggest to us the hidden potential for change in society. In the distemper of these times, beauty can be subversive. In my writing and photos, I hope to evoke some of the spirit in my favorite art, of all forms.
    Tom Schultz on said:

    Marvelous reflections in the lakes.

    Reply ↓
    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Thank you! 🙂

      Reply ↓
    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Yes winters are very cold but it is a beautiful place to live.

      Reply ↓

  14. This was a lovely post Nicole. I too love autumn and the brilliant colors and smells that it brings. Beautiful photos!

    Reply ↓
    • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
      thirdeyemom on said:

      Thank you LuAnn! Now all the leaves are falling as it has been quite windy and it is entering the gray month of November. Not long until some snow!

      Reply ↓

      • I wouldn’t mind snow but the gray I could do without.

      • thirdeyemom – Writer, traveler, hiker and global humanitarian traveling the world and doing good. Member of Impact Travel Alliance Media Network. 40+ countries and still wandering sharing my journey along the way.
        thirdeyemom on said:

        The sun is finally out thankfully. It makes a world of difference!

      • It makes all the difference doesn’t it?

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