THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 12, 1994 TAG: 9410110102
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Mary Reid Barrow
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
On many autumn days here, billowing white clouds are so well defined against a dazzling blue sky, I feel as if I could reach up and grab a tuft of cloud.
As they rise over the ocean, autumn full moons appear to be stretching the heavens' boundaries, pushing to burst out of the sky and down to earth. The man in the moon also seems to smile now, so finely is his face etched in the slivers of the new moons of autumn.
At every turn, like a high-powered lens, fall brings nature into sharper focus. There's even a racy twist on the waves. As they rise, clad in lacy white caps, they seem to stand still for a moment, an entity apart from the mother sea underneath.
Shore birds race up and down the beach, playing tag with the waves. They're really eating every little crustacean they can find to stoke up for their grueling migration to South America. However, to my eye, they look as if they're just energized by the autumn air and a lovely, deserted fall beach.
The autumn sun is soft, replacing the harsh sun of summer. Lower in the sky now, it sends shafts of light across the land and through the house, flattering everything it touches.
This gentle sun does not compete with the brilliant oranges and yellows of fall chrysanthemums and asters. Instead this time of year the sun gives full license to flowers to push color to its fullest intensity.
Tiny warblers flit about in the live oak outside the kitchen window. Flashes of bright yellow on their tails and breasts sparkle in the low autumn sun.
The trees have not really begun to turn, but the sassafras trees give a hint of what's in store. Each one bears a leaf or two of bright orange-red, made all the more colorful because of the background of their still-green counterparts.
Wild persimmon trees that line my driveway are bearing more fruit than I've seen in years. The other day one of the trees was reflected in a mirror in the house and the orange persimmons were so vivid, I thought the mirror was lying. It wasn't; I went outside and looked.
Wild grapevines are working to surpass the persimmons. Their hard little green grapes, many more than in most years, have turned a rich bronze-purple and the birds have moved away from my feeder to reap the bounty of fall.
This summer, I thought that old Sally, the springer, had truly aged. Our walks down the feeder road got shorter and shorter as the days got longer. Now with the fall, her old energy has returned.
She's full of beans these crisp evenings, carrying her leash in her mouth and tugging to get free. She barks frantically and wags her tail as the ice cream man comes down the street, playing his tinkling song. Each day when the ice cream man comes, it's a little darker than the day before and fewer children are waiting for him.
The other evening, the young man stopped his truck as he passed me and rolled down his window. ``I have nothing for your dog,'' he said apologetically, ``but here's something for you.'' He gave me a grape Blow-Pop and his friendly ice-cream-man smile. I saw his gesture as a summer farewell.
Some think of autumn only as a time for farewells, a sad time. As the leaves fall from the trees, so do their spirits. But not me.
It's fall I don't want to tell goodbye.
P.S. AN AMERICAN HERITAGE FALL FESTIVAL with American Indian music, dance and crafts will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at historic Lynnhaven House. Admission is $3.
HELP THE ANIMALS by recycling aluminum cans at the Virginia Beach SPCA year around. But this month your cans are especially needed because they will help the SPCA compete with animal shelters nationwide for free pet food and cash prizes. Big can wagons are at the shelter's parking lot at 3040 Holland Road. MEMO: What unusual nature have you seen this week? And what do you know about
Tidewater traditions and lore? Call me on INFOLINE, 640-5555. Enter
category 2290. Or, send a computer message to my Internet address:
mbarrow(AT)infi.net.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARY REID BARROW
Some wild persimmon trees are bearing more vivid orange fruit than
has been seen in years.
by CNB