Up North the snow shovels are out and sensual visions of smelling burning leaves on a cool Fall day are long past. But down here in the Carolina Lowcountry its the first week of December and we are now being blessed by a fine Lady, Mother Nature, with all that stands dear to me on an Autumn day.
My Bride and I missed out this year on leaf peeping on our special "other Island" Prince Edward way up in the Canadian Maritimes. Just by coincidence, however, we made up for it on a recent short jaunt to the North Georgia foothills. The valleys were ablaze with color....color the locals say they have not seen in years. We had hit it just right. Clear mountain waters forming the Chattahoochee River flowed passed our cozy cottage's quaint porch and leaves, brightly colored and perky rode the gently flowing waters like miniature boats in a fine parade. I couldn't resist grabbing Mary's hand, kicking through piles of leaves on the adjoining narrow dirt road and fondly remembering days of old in the Northwest Pennsylvania countryside.
Its been almost a month since that fine adventure and quite frankly I thought my fascination with brightly colored creations from God was long gone. But that lady with a name called Nature had different plans for me and the Lowcountry alike. Well below average temperatures, an abundance of rain bringing us to normal for the year combined to give all that would care to see a true unique visual leaf spectacle indeed.
Now I am not here to tell you that the patchworks of red, orange and gold compare to "leaf time" up North. I have always felt sorry for Southern folks that have never been "awed" by that form of absolute spellbinding Autumn beauty. But when one accents those muted multi-colored beauties with a multitude of green palmetto frauns and Spanish Moss laden live oaks sporting their deep glossed never changing green leaves with a background of gold from the marshes and blue from the ocean, one realizes that folks in the South have been truly blessed by another form of Mother Natures visual miracles.
We had an unusually heavy frost last night and the forecast calls for some brisk winds and light rain. Soon all that will be left will be painted memories of the heavily forested Lowcountry forests. So its time to quit work and go home early. I plan to grab Mary's hand, tell her dinner can wait, and take a long walk on Daufuskie Island's tree canopied dirt roads. Once again we will smell the special fragrance that is Fall, trudge through and kick leaves like we did back in Pennsylvania while giving thanks to God and Mother Nature for this special moment in time. I will then hold these memories dear till next year when Fall returns to Pennsylvania, Prince Edward Island and my South Carolina home.
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