This is just a brief hiatus from my summer travel memoir. I want to keep a memory of the third autumn in my life before it completely fades away. I'm afraid that just as the autumn leaves are shaken off swiftly by the passing winds, so my memory of this season would be shaken off by the racing winds of activities.
Gray clouds and showers characterize the early days of fall this year. At times, though, the clouds would sporadically open up to reveal patches of the blue sky that would either gradually expand or shrink, and would last only for some moments. Despite the gloom, however, an explosion of vibrant colors blazes all over the city, overshadowing the prevailing gloom. Every street, every alley, every park, every house yard, every parking lot, every bend in the road, etc. has at least some bushes or trees that are flaming red, orange and yellow.
Everyday as I take a ride or walk toward my different workplaces, I always find myself spellbound by all the colors that abound along the way and as far as the eyes can see. I get intoxicated drinking in the marvelous colors, and my heart swells with joy and satisfaction for having been blessed as a partaker of such invigorating food for the soul that our loving Creator has provided for us.
The colors are so entrancing that it's quite hard to take my eyes off them, as if I want to hold them with a gaze and freeze the moments so that their beauty would never wither. But, alas, such beauty is just momentary, for soon, it will unstoppably vanish from view.
Except here in my site, where events remain at a standstill; where variable things are being preserved and viewed any time.
So I'm splashing all over this page the colors that have been painted naturally on this planet's little "canvas" of a city called Umeå.
Since Umeå is a city of birch, it's obvious that birch trees are prominent in the landscapes. They bedeck the streets, parks and road circles. They also stand side by side with the evergreens, like pine and spruce trees.
One of my favorites is the maple tree. I love to observe how the leaves gradually blaze into fiery colors that spark up the street corners, private homes' yards and parks. The leaves begin their transformation from the top with yellow, red, orange or pinkish colors, which would then crawl down until the whole tree becomes completely aflame.
The rowan tree or mountain ash is another tree that has captivated my heart. From spring to winter, it keeps it loveliness in different facets. Some kinds of rowan trees look like these in autumn:
The aspens, too, stand out with their yellow flappy leaves that I love to watch. Here's the link to my separate blog about the aspen trees: The Merry Aspen Trees
Among the bushes, the aronia melanocarpa or black chokeberry bush, flourishes extensively. A throng of them makes for very attractive hedges along the sidewalk or around the yard.
The spiraea, the rose bushes and many other kinds of bushes also adorn the sidewalks and parking lots.
More fall images that I have taken this year are stored in these links:
These, so far, are the autumn's bounty of colors in our place this year. I'm elated that I had the chance to reforge my intimacy with this season. My photo albums tell the whole story. It's also interesting to note that the season has not become a common yearly occurence to me that could be taken for granted. It still fascinates me. And fascination keeps life vivacious. Life is not boring at all, not colorless. It is as colorful and invigorating as the colors of autumn.
