November 16, 2003Took a walk in the neighborhood this afternoon. The air was still. The temperatures a perfect 72 degrees or so, I am guessing. It was quiet. The sounds of life muted and calm. The trees leaning toward winter, still with leaves intact, but getting brown and weathered.
The streets took on a timeless feel as I walked the familiar route that I have taken for years now. This place is home to me. There is nowhere now that I feel more of a sense of place and belonging.
November 9, 2003It's finally gotten much cooler. North winds blowing in all night. Gray, overcast skies. So typical of November. I like it and yet I don't. I know this is the harbinger of winter, and I love the cold brisk air that is coming in December and Janurary. The clear, cold star-filled nights. So invigorating. They give much a very special feeling each night when I come in and it's that cold and wintry. I believe each season has such special signficance and beauty. Let the gray skies stay awhile, if they must.
November 6, 2003
The big oak tree outside my window is still green, and it's been unseasonably warm and muggy all week. Autumn is eluding us here in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. I think it will be here soon enough, for cooler weather is coming, but this type of weather reminds me so much of an even hotter climate -- New Orleans -- where I grew up and where I recall many warm days in December and January.
I went out to the beach yesterday afternoon, late, and sat out there awhile reading and looking at the clouds and thinking how beautiful the sky always is out there by the ocean. Took some pictures there and in back of the house facing the marsh just as the sun was going down. For a time, the colors of the sunset in the clouds were reflected on the still waters of the salt marsh. It made for an interesting picture. I love sunsets and all the various gradations of light. Folly Beach is where I have most of my experience with sunsets.