Taryn Raye~ Romance Writer

The outdoors called to me today so my daughter and I took our leisure on a blanket in the yard for an hour or so. The noise, noise, noise of the indoors just finally got to me I suppose. I couldn't think for the tumbling of the clothes in the dryer and the chatter of daughter's cartoons. I needed the escape and the peace of quiet time (albeit, my daughter still jabbered up a storm as usual.)

It's was hard to tell which direction the wind was blowing on this fine warm September day. It seemed to swirl around me, first from the south, then north and east and west. I'm not really good with the directional points of my internal compass, but I believe it's mostly coming in out of the east.

I was spying on hummingbirds only a few feet away from where I was seated on a blanket in the yard, near the feeder. There was one sitting on a tree branch, swaying in the breeze.(see photo to the left) It looked as though it was bobbing its head back and forth to the music of nature.

It's any wonder that the poor little thing was able to hang onto the branch or the feeder as breezy as it was outside this afternoon. This is one of our "bully" hummingbirds who runs off all of them when they try to come get something to drink.

My last two giant sunflowers have hung their heads, given up to the last hazy days of summer, sacrificing seeds to birds and such. I heard the cawing of crows up high in the trees, calling to one another.

The crisp leaves rustled from the branches, rolling their way across the yard and I heard the clicking and repetitive call of grasshoppers, crickets, katydids and quite possibly the last few cicadas of the season.

A butterfly bravely, and without heed, fluttered by against the wind, which had kicked up a flurry of leaves. They shuddered down, abandoned by their parental units, to die amongst their fallen brothers on the dry faded grass. Mother Oak and Father Walnut kicked them from the nest. Gone from a flourishing life lived for a short time as maturity gave way to death and a spring that will come again without them.

"Caw caw caw" and "Tickity tickity tickity" called the crows and katydids, their song an infinite melody. The sweet smell of honeysuckle mingled with the musky aroma of dead leaves and mossy woods. The breeze caressed my skin, infiltrated my senses, the air thick with the heavy perfumes of Autumn.

The sky has been tempered with a grayish blue and though the trees are still green for the most part, they know it's coming...losing bits of themselves as these days wear on.

Our state flower, the goldenrod(right), is shining in all it's brilliant glory along the fence row at the back of our yard.

My sedum, or house leek, is still blooming in beautiful white with pink tinted centers, the some of the heads already turned burgundy as they begin to die off. The little bees still love the blossoms though.

As I wandered the yard with my camera, I tried to capture some of nature to bring indoors, to enjoy and share. I was not quite quick enough to catch the orange and black and brown and blue and bright yellow butterflies that zipped by in their wild and random paths across the sky and I missed a good opportunity to capture the leaf storm that flurried down from the silver poplar behind the house. Maybe next time.

I hope that everyone is able to get out and enjoy these wonderful days we're having. It's such a sweet release from the hot and humid dry days of summer we've had this year. Autumn is feeling good, giving us the ability to spend our time in quiet contemplation and reflection. I plan to embrace these gentler days before the cold weather sets in, for I have a feeling winter's chilly breath will be breathing down our necks sooner than expected.

Plus, I hope that the quiet time will also help me open up the creative lines so that I can dig into my novels with more enthusiasm, more perspective and more clarity.