Mid-November Harmony

8x6,oil/canvas

The range of colors outside is narrowing to a pleasant harmonious few. The reddish hue of maple branches and twigs when seen through mist turn a beautiful, muted violet. The remaining green is softening to blue- grey as the grass dies away. The remaining leaves are a burnished gold and russett. While it seems damp and still there is lots of activity among the squirrels, chipmunks and flocks of blackbirds and sparrows. It will be a few weeks yet until the cold, clear silence of winter sets in.

Dismal November! me it soothes to view,
At parting day, the scanty foliage fall
From the wet fruit tree, or the grey stone wall,
Whose cold films glisten with unwholesome dew;
To watch the yellow mists from the dank earth
Enfold the neighbouring copse; while on as they pass
The silent rain-drops bend the long rank grass
Which wraps some blossom's unmaturéd birth.
- Charles Lloyd, 1775 - 1839, To Autumn