The weather has gotten mild again and one of my jobs today was to rake–there are a couple of wonderful tall pines in this part of our yard and the pine straw I raked up will go on our flowerbeds and vegetable garden in the spring.

Though temperatures are warmer, the cold spell changed everything; the colors are new again this week.  Once these still-vivid leaves fall, our yard will be largely a palette of browns and grays.

I appreciate how much is revealed as we move further from autumn into winter.  I drove into Prattville this morning, saw houses I didn’t even know were so close to the road, a junkyard that should be charming because it is so totally junky but in fact, is mainly just sad.  There are also a lot more abandoned and falling down edifices slowly but surely going down into the land.

As the sun sets, because there is still enough foliage left, once again the world is briefly on fire and wonderful to behold.