November Rain

The temperature is hovering just above freezing, and from grey skies pours a thick rain, falling in strings more than drops: white syrupy strands against the dark eaves of the houses and the tall pines behind them. By nighttime, this will be snow, but for now it is shivery, persistent November rain.

It's hard to describe late November in New England to people who've never experienced it. It is cold, rainy, depressing; punctuated by a few bright warm days that then plunge back into spirit-numbing greyness. Somehow I don't mind it all that much, mainly because beneath the veneer of greyness there is a subtle intensity of color: the grass becomes chartreuse, the bare branches of raspberry a dusty lavender, the dogwoods yellow and crimson. Tree branches, black and wet, draw pictures against the sky, while the borders lie in a tangle of rusty fern fronds and leftover leaves. And there is expectancy: water giving way to ice, soft earth to solid, color to monochrome.

Waiting for the tea to steep, I stare out the window like a cat - neither particularly excited nor bored. From here on the second floor, I can see the mouse paths, the chipmunk-run, the shrub rose hide-out of the sparrows. Rain splatters into the birdbath; two crows land on the ground nearby and quickly plunder soggy bread thrown earlier from the porch. My tail twitches, involuntarily.

From our box seat up here in the balcony, it's clear that the last act has finished. The seed stalks of the hostas bend at the waist, while their leaves, melted to the ground in the last frost, drape around them like circular skirts. On the stage of the garden, they take their final bow. Tomorrow -- we'll wake to whiteness.

Comments

[kirsten]

*Sigh.*

Lovely.

[marjorie]

All I can say is, may your next book be about weather, because no one writes it like you do.

[dale]

Yes, what Marjorie said!

[ruth]

ditto for provence but couldn't say it that beautifully.

[Trix]

Often, it seems, the lack of bright sun/light intensifies colours. Moss and lichen, on a grey day, can be absolutely neon! Every hue seems deeper and richer, and you put it so nicely...

[Marja-Leena]

Luscious words, Beth! Hope you and J had a great Thanksgiving, perhaps with your family.