Gray Day
A fog has rolled in and settled. A lone pumpkin, pecked by the chickens, is the only color in my view. The lack of birdsong is eerie. Occasionally a lamenting hen, who has all but given up laying, will disrupt the overcast hush. A distant gunshot means meat in someone’s freezer. The ring of wind chimes guides me to the present moment and, like a buoy, makes me feel like a sailor at sea. The leaves are all brown now and have floated to the surface. Mostly oak, they look like fallen stars.
I notice that the lawn chair cushion I’m sitting on is damp and has slowly soaked into my sweat pants. Inside, the house is warm, lit by artificial light. The faucet is dripping. Leftover spaghetti, made with frozen garden tomatoes and the last of the venison Joe hunted last year, sizzles in the skillet. The scent coming from the steamer tells me the scavenged turnip greens are tender. I’m thankful for how hearty they are.
It’s not too early to eat the marzipan stollen that we bought this week for the holidays. It goes so well with a pot of caramel puer tea. Maybe a piece of mint chocolate to top it all off will help to brighten a gray day.
__________Our World Tuesday
November 17th, 2013 7:27 pm
Colleen, you write so beautifully.
November 17th, 2013 9:00 pm
a perfect grey day, especially when accompanied with those things that one finds warming…….this is folkie, it goes to how people live, when more than house makes a home. And it is not exclusive to the Blue Ridge Mountains. What you have expressed I have heard before. I have heard it from American folk like yourself, Canadian folk, Cuban folk, Jamaican folk, Scottish folk, African folk.
Good shtufffs, am sure proud, I can sense the contentment.
November 17th, 2013 10:32 pm
Gorgeous writing!
November 18th, 2013 7:50 am
What a lovely description. Yes, we were snuggled in with a blanket of fog as well.
November 18th, 2013 2:49 pm
Magical and mysterious foggy shot.
November 18th, 2013 3:07 pm
Mysterious fog and beautiful prose-poem …magical post.
November 18th, 2013 4:13 pm
Great sequence!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.
November 18th, 2013 6:29 pm
Beautiful words and beautiful photo. Both paint a late autumn picture.
November 18th, 2013 6:55 pm
Lovely misty autumn photo and post sounds very inviting at your home ~ thanks, carol, xxx
November 19th, 2013 5:51 am
A beautiful description of a grey day contrasted so well to the comforts of home.
November 19th, 2013 10:25 am
Thank you for your comments about the London skyline. The building next to the Cheese Grater is the Gherkin. (I should have put that in the post).
November 20th, 2013 4:38 pm
Beautiful foggy scene!
November 21st, 2013 2:47 pm
That’s what our past weekend looked like–dull and gray. We had rain almost all day both Saturday and Sunday, along with a bit of fog. Now they’re saying snow for Friday. :-\