Sunday, September 28, 2008

A Perfect Autumn Day

I woke up to a wonderful fall morning, crisp and by the time I finished chores it was sunny and the colours were so perfect, so I put on my thick flannel shirt and put Sarah into the back of the truck for a ride down to check the cows and go for a walk.


It was one of those days when every song on the radio speaks to you, the sun is the perfect temperature, the bugs are beautiful, the smells wonderful....you know those kind of days? I hope you do. It doesn't get much better than this. I took delight in everything it seems. Where someone might see a barren, arid, desert type landscape, I found a beautiful place overwhelmed with life.








I could smell the sunshine, the sagebrush, the ancient earth beneath me. My feet kept a crunching-tempo in the dry grass. There were dozens of different hoppers trying to escape my shadow as it crossed their dozing spot. I could hear the sound of their wings clicking like a rapid-fire camera shutter as the ones with wings took flight. Every few minutes a cricket would sing out it's song, I imagined it a farewell song to the summer. Red fire ants were awake and traveling with determination like the soldiers they are, across the dirt road; the cold weather is on its way, the cold weather is on its way, the cold weather is... The wind itself was soft on my ears, whispering its own song, welcoming the fall.









The view as I walked was awe inspiring. I was walking along a coulee flat with the occasional sandstone formation hilling up on my left side, the making of future hoodoos trailing tears down its face.

In front of me were the mountainous Sweet Grass Hills










Behind me a farmer, harvest finished for this year, prepared the soil to meet the spring.













Driving home, the ditch grass, first green and then like emerging flames set on fire by the sun's rays, flickered it's gold and orange tongues to heaven.


5 comments:

Jayne said...

What a great day you had Heather! :c)

Cary ~ My Wool Mitten at Serenity Farms said...

Just glorious! Wish we were there to share your Canadian fall ~ our weather is changing here in Michigan, too!

Annie Wicking said...

What a wild open space you live in!

Thank you for sharing your life with us.

best wishes,

Annie

The W.O.W. factor! said...

I found you at Annie Wickings, and you wrote your day beautifully! I too live in wide open spaces..only we have hills.....of wheat stubble to see...but there truly is beauty everywhere...if one takes a moment to see it, to feel it.

Theresa said...

I loved this post - both the writing and the pictures. It reminds me a lot of parts of North Dakota there. It's fun to see the lambs as they have changed. Wish I could be there with my camera!