These are the weeks of autumn. The season is long, but the actual event is a sporadic part of it these days. Perhaps a bit late in arriving, certainly erratic in its behavior. But on balance the milder temperatures are nice, and maybe they’ll stick around until February, when spring should begin early, which is on time.
The leaf turn is promising, as you can see here. All of these are photos I took on campus last week.
Jayita Bhattacharjee, the poet, journalist, author, wrote that “Autumn is the season when cathedrals of memories are built. They become palaces of light, amid the falling leaves.”
“Only with a leaf can I talk of the forest,” wrote the Albanian poet, Visar Zhiti.
“There is another alphabet, whispering from every leaf, singing from every river, shimmering from every sky,” said the Serbian American writer, Dejan Stojanovic.
“Each leaf tells us a story. The story of its struggle. The story of the storms that it faces in life,” notes Avijeet Das.
“Even a leaf can fly if it so wishes,” according to Anthony T. Hincks.
The Italian outdoorsman and poet David Passarelli tells us that “Every twig, every leaf, a scholar, participating in this universal dialogue, a profound and ancestral communication.”
Perhaps that’s how Akilnathan Logeswaran came to know that, “When the time has come, every leaf turns to face the sun!”
Then there’s Shel Silverstein. “And the tree was happy.”
This happy tree is a ginko. It is the oldest one on the campus. Several are older than the campus. Others, younger than this, are older than the nation. But this guy is the dean of trees.
It sits in front of Bunce Hall, one of the campus icons, and the very first academic on the campus. It opened in September of 1923. The tree had been there for more than 150 Septembers prior.
In between that building and that tree is where every student there starts their studies, at the President’s Welcome, and ends their studies, at graduation.
If you’ll notice that tree on the left side of the photo in front of Bunce, you’ll see another tree with some remarkable character in its trunk.
Hanging from the front porch of Bunce Hall are banners that are a part of the university’s new marketing campaign.
At just the right time the other day I was in a meeting and was able to say, “I dunno. Seems like you could just do that and say you’re defying definition … ” and I brought the house down. So, at the very least, the faculty are aware of the new branding.
Speaking of perfect weather and fine foliage, here are a few shots from a recent bike ride. I started a bit later than I wanted, which meant I didn’t get to ride as far as I would like (’tis the season for that, sadly) but it did mean that the roads were quieter. And I had this going for me.
I like how the road dips and curves as it gets over that little nameless creek bed in the woods. I don’t move fast enough to really notice it, but it looks cool.
It did not turn foggy, but the lens on my camera fogged up.
One field later, there, that’s better.
And then I got back in the neighborhood, where one of the big welcoming trees is beginning its show. And look, it is still daylight out.
I got in 25 miles on that ride but now, looking at that photo, I’m thinking I might have been able to sneak two or three more before the darkness won out. Let that be a lesson to me.
