Fall and spring started the same way for me at the cabin: shaking snow off the aspen saplings so they wouldn’t break (below, right). In May, it was a late spring snowstorm that hit just as the aspen were starting to leaf out. In October, it’s the reverse sequence: an early fall snowstorm arrived as the aspen are starting to wink out.
I had hoped for a different fall day: the one where I sit outside enjoying the brilliant autumn sunshine, listening to the soft clatter of the last of the aspen leaves and dreamily watching the white clouds drift across the deep blue sky. Instead the temperature never climbed above 40, snow covered the ground, and the skies were smothered in low clouds.
This white and gold landscape is not your usual one, and it’s startling to behold, even as I wish for something more amenable and pleasant. The tops of yellow aspen are framed against the white-clad mountains, and a few aspen are sprinkled among the forested hillside, looking like someone accidentally dripped some golden paint on the somber green pines (top). On the ground, the white snow is littered with aspen leaves, like gold coins thrown to the ground (above).
Everything is strangely silent, as if frozen in whatever position they took when the snow arrived, as if waiting for something to happen: a wind to stir things up or the sun to reappear.
There’s only one thing to do: enjoy this rare day and wait to appreciate the sun on another day.
Beautiful piece! Lovely descriptions, so pretty in the photos! Hard to believe we're here again! What happened to summer?
Posted by: Sally | October 09, 2017 at 05:38 PM
Thank you again for your words and lovely photos which feed the Colorado part of my spirit. Snow always paints such a wonderful contrast with the color of the world.
Miss you!!
Posted by: shoney | October 10, 2017 at 07:48 AM
Great photos. Favorite words: "wink out". The fall colors have finally started to turn around here. Maybe about two weeks behind the normal time.
Posted by: Brent | October 12, 2017 at 05:26 AM