On this brilliant autumn day I find myself thinking of the spring, imagining that this warm sunshine has come to melt ice and snow. For a few moments I find myself believing it, thinking of the flowers that come, the brilliant petals of pink and gold, the flowers of pure white. Then I remember with a laugh... this is autumn and she has her own special ways to bring beauty. She gives by enlivening the senses, by making what could be dreary into the most bewitching of natural art. She gives by bringing a fresh start, feeding the soils and kissing the trees into their patient slumber. As the season deepens their graceful boughs will be the prettiest of charcoal sketches, drawing themselves tall, reflecting the light of a wintry sun.