The Glory of Autumn–Season’s Favorite for Broken Sparkles

The Glory of Autumn

Favorite Autumn Quote:

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

Favorite Autumn Poem:

A Late Walk by Robert Frost

When I go up through the mowing field,
The headless aftermath
Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew,
Half closes the garden path.

And when I come to the garden ground,
The whir of sober birds
Up from the tangle of withered weeds
Is sadder than any words.

A tree beside the wall stands bare,
But a leaf that lingered brown,
Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought,
Comes softly rattling down.

I end not far from my going forth,
By picking the faded blue
Of the last remaining aster flower
To carry again to you.

Favorite Animal: Quail

Plump quail forage seed.
November winds howl, buffet
swirling mounds of leaves.

Favorite Movie: On Golden Pond

Living my autumn
fading in flamboyancy
float On Golden Pond.

Favorite Word: Orange
Favorite Song: “Autumn Leaves”

Autumn Leaves

Inching into Autumn’s end
orgasmic orange gives way
to drab

brown leaves that huddle
into niches of
the Maple.

From nowhere, it seems,
a brilliant Stellar Jay
intrudes.

Favorite Food: Acorn Squash

Pulpy acorn squash
maple syrup and butter
autumn’s comfort food.

Favorite Flower: Dahlia

Brilliant yellows, orange,
festival of fall colors
pure fantasy.

Favorite Town: Napa, California

Grape harvest begins
winemaker’s crush new vintage
heaven blesses earth.

Favorite Book: “East of Eden”
by John Steinbeck

Promise of harvest
in a land East of Eden
hope’s uncertainty.

Linked to Broken Sparkles challenge Season’s Favorites: http://brokensparkles.wordpress.com/

Summer Reading Recommendations–Literary Fiction

When I was working full-time, I used to look forward to vacation time to have a chance to catch up on reading. As a career woman, often under a lot of stress, I tended to turn toward lighter reading, primarily mysteries, but I missed the intensity and quality of writing that prevails in literary fiction. With that in mind, I thought I’d share with you some of the best literary fiction that I’ve read in the last year or so.

Island Beneath the Sea, A Novel  Isabel Allende, HarperCollins Publishers. The story of an African-American slave and her journey from Haiti to New Orleans, from slavery to freedom.

Still Alice  Lisa Genova, Simon and Schuster. The first person account of a Harvard professor’s descent into early stage dementia. Hard to believe it’s fictional. Genova first self-published this masterpiece, endorsed by the Alzheimer’s Association.

The Bean Trees, A novel  Barbara Kingsolver,  HarperCollins Publishers. A story of poverty, love and friendship showcasing Kingslover’s delectable prose.

Mariette in Ecstasy  Ron Hansen, HarperCollins Publishers.  A tale of a young postulant’s apparent divine possession and religious ecstasy. Hansen employs some unique literary devices, offering some exquisite description.

The Grapes of Wrath  John Steinbeck, Penquin Publishing. Experience the plight of dust bowl refugees who migrate to California at the height of the depression.

The Sun Also Rises  Ernest Hemmingway, Simon and Schuster. If you read this as a teen like I did, you will want to revisit it–a novel of expatriates and the “Lost Generation.”

None of these recommendations is a light, mindless read but the quality of the prose is guaranteed to impact your own writing experience.