L'aura del Campo

A little story of Autumn. Than Bauk?

Snow, autumn leaves, a story, a poem, a Than Bauk chain? Thoughts about the game. Ouch. The Jayhawks stunk. Lots of OSU orange and black. Images (apparently no frost yet). England is warm by comparison?

Added 10/15: Skype. Heard of Skype? You will! Go to nicotico's entry "Invalid Entry"  and ask her what's up with that! Or ask AL and galinago. It is a way of free internet phone calls (international included). http://skype.com

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███████          L'aura del campo
███████          AUTUMN: 18 Mashiyyat (14 October)
███████          Weather outside: cool and pleasant.
███████          Weather inside: surprizingly calm.

'é a lua,  é a lua,  na quintana dos mortos'          
~    Federico García Lorca

October leaves

This is the time the Great Painter looks at His palette and paints the hills of Western New York. It starts in the uplands of Allegany and Cattaraugus Counties and the Northern tier of Pennsylvania. Yellows and reds creep north and south and finish along the shores of Lakes Erie and Ontario sometime in November. I've even seen a pink rose bloom on December 1st, my friend Kevin's birthday.

First, the locust loses its gold raiment. The maples turn yellow, orange or scarlet. Golden brown vases of elms line the boulevards and avenues of old victorian houses. The oaks wear red-brown and hold on to their tatters, while chrysanthemums gather leaf litter and huddle.

Each autumn the same dice are thrown. Which will come first: the frost or the snow. Both come by Thanksgiving, rarely October. The Snow Queen delivers a flurry that delights every child and puts fear in the hearts of car-drivers (few remember how to drive after the piña coladas of summer). The trees wear their new cloaks of white; each twig glistens with icicles. (Jack Frost takes the credit.) The old leaves glint in the gutter.

This is the usual order of things.

But Jack, the Queen and the Painter went on vacation. Westwind took over. And boy did he blow! Had quite a big party. I heard on the newscasts. Did you? By the time he was done, the leaves and the branches, the ice and the snow lay all mixed with down poles and dead wires. And this is no story; on Friday it really transpired!

Cool? Spring is only months away!
Temperature where I am: 46º.
Weather in Amherst, New York: 39º.
Weather in La Paz, Bolivia: 39º.
Weather in Nottingham, England: 55º.

IMAGES

At the game, from the hill:

Burnt orange and black; glare off the gold tubas and trombones; a kid with shoes that have one wheel in the heels; bells ringing; bands playing; chill, when the shadows lengthen to where I sit; a breeze; white boughs of the sycamore; red brick dormitories; dark red roofs; beige apartment buildings; lawn chairs; blue sky; night light standards gleaming silver; blankets; jackets; plastic pop bottles; the crowd streaming out; bicycles and strollers; radios; coolers; tents; kids riding their daddy's shoulders.

MY LIFE

Friday was spent reading blogs and cleaning clothes and relaxing and pacing myself. Not too bad a day, much better than Thursday. Did get up late, but that happens when I stay up too late. Finished reading "The Waves" of Virginia Woolf.

Called my sister, but my mother's phone was busy. So I'll call on Saturday as usual (still no answer).

Saturday: went to the game. Called Leslie in Buffalo and Liliane in Grand Island. Lil only had 6 inches of snow. Leslie got smacked by a couple feet. Her phone works but she may not have electricity for a week. I joked that I caught her at home!

Read my Spanish text. Wrote in my journal. Went to the coffeehouse. Cooked french toast.

FOOTBALL

The less said the better! Final score KU 32, OSU 42. OSU had over 600 yards offense. Totally awesome. There were lots of orange fans. The OSU band was energetic and who can forget the music to "Oklahoma"? The Cowpokes thoroughly kicked ass.

POULTRY? YOU CALL THIS POULTRY?

This needs work, but what the hell!

Harvest of the firewood

Yellow flames, a wisp.
Ghosts of trees set traps.
Woodsmen dare not pass
with ax, their souls must
empty of all rancor.

With each caress and glance
they measure living pulse
of root and branch they hear
which leaf's aquiver.

When they pass come fall
they'll fell dead limbs,
come winter haul them off
and thus appease the ghosts
of trees in slumber. [163.388]

alfred booth, wanbli ska challenged the readers of his blog to write a Than Bauk (three lines, 12 syllables: xxxa/xxax/xaxx ). To know more read his entry (his challenge is over): "Invalid Entry" . The first three lines are my attempt that then became a chain, using the first line as the last.

Alfred's Moon over Paris

Dim morning light
reignites life,
excites dreamscapes:

flight paths of bird-
songs are heard, moon
endured, heart beats

lured from night's du-
ty, cold pewter,
deep rooted blight,

fruitless deeds mourned.
One dream torn from
dim morning light. [163.391]

Or in a different form (lines of 12 = alexandrine):

Dim morning light reignites life, excites dreamscapes:
flight paths of birdsongs are heard, moon endured, heart beats
lured from night's duty, cold pewter, deep rooted blight,
fruitless deeds mourned. One dream torn from dim morning light.

BLOGVILLE

Been reading a bit, but what is there to say. There are some pictures of an autumn snow! Go to visit emmyloo in Michigan: "Invalid Entry"  and
obwan in Batavia, New York which really got socked: "State of Emergency"