“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.
Nicole, How lucky you are to have your beautiful lake. Louise
Thanks Louise for the comment and the note! Too fast for my own good these days! I need to slow down! 😌
What a beautiful post Nicole. 🌿❤️
Thanks Miriam!
Wow.. those photos are stunning. What a gorgeous backyard 🙂
Thanks so much!
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
Thanks Janet! 🙂
What lovely colors. Thanks for the journey to your corner of the world. Shine on.
Thank you!
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.
Thanks! 🙂
Beautiful photos of the fall season! It’s so quick and fleeting…that’s why it is so magical! 🍂
Thank you and yes so true!
Very beautiful Nicole!!!
Thank you so much!
Yes, we need to stock up on that shiny warmth of autumn golds and oranges before our worlds turn gray and colorless!
Yes, I hate the colorless months but it only makes spring, summer and fall that much better!
Thats is an incredible set of images you have shared… Simply stunning! The reflections are near on perfect
Thank you so much!
Marvelous reflections in the lakes.
Thank you! 🙂
Oh Minnesota winters are freezing, I’ve heard. Lovely to see such beautiful autumn colours, where I’m from we only have monsoon and summer~
Yes winters are very cold but it is a beautiful place to live.
This was a lovely post Nicole. I too love autumn and the brilliant colors and smells that it brings. Beautiful photos!
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!
I wouldn’t mind snow but the gray I could do without.
The sun is finally out thankfully. It makes a world of difference!
It makes all the difference doesn’t it?