A Mountain Scrapbook

This weekend I had the immense and wonderful pleasure of packing into the car with my family and driving up the steep and amazing mountains of Colorado.  We went to see the leaves, and though I saw leaves, I saw a whole lot more. And so I will share with you the sights and beauties, through the art of words and photographs, in the hope that you might enjoy them with me too.

Each picture I took has its own little story to tell, so I shall let them do it in their own way.

"Once upon a time, there were mountains that stood big and strong in the hill-land of Colorado.  But people began to move there with saws and axes, horses and carts.  
They wanted to take a shortcut and move quickly through the mountains.  And so they started digging, blasting, and pushing their way through the hill, supporting it with heavy beams and strong logs.  And then the work was done;  noisy cars traveled through, whipping up dust, and stirring around dirt.  And still, after that once upon that time, the tunnel still stands.  I know, because I saw the light from the other side."

The floor of the forest is covered with a nice quilt of colorful leaves.  They keep the tree roots warm and tenderly tuck the vines and plants into their winter nap.  The leaves are all sizes, shapes, and hues fluttering down to the ground like snowflakes.  Maybe they are trying to be the snowflakes of autumn, knowing that they will never survive to the cold white of winter.  The aspen trees observe this happening, shaking their heads in mirth.  And as they shake, more leaves fall to the distant ground, floating and dancing on the chill mountain breeze.  The leaves are king, there in the woods, and they enjoy themselves, while they last...

"Home is behind, the world ahead,

And there are many paths to tread

Through shadow to the edge of night,

Until the stars are all the light.

Then world behind and home ahead,

We'll wander back and home to bed.

Mist and twilight, cloud and shade,

Away shall fade! Away shall fade!

~ J.R.R. Tolkien ~

A Garden Scrapbook

I have the most delightful and charming garden out behind my house.  It is smaller than some, and larger than others, but I have great pride in claiming that "bit of earth".  We grow all sorts of vegetables and flowers out in our garden.

Our vegetable garden is divided into six raised boxes in a lovely symmetrical rectangle.  The Carrots are renting a plot from us and they manage quite comfortably in a box of their own.  Not every vegetable is as well off as the pompous Carrot, however.  The whimsical Kohlrabi and the vibrant Chard must room together, too poor to live alone.  Tomatoes are my mother's special favorite, so they live lavishly in a covered box to be protected from heavy rain and destructive hail...

...My mother's special favorite...

...The pompous Carrot...

Our flower garden is a pleasant bed of roses, almost literally.  Pink, white, yellow, orange, and red Roses bask in the warm sunshine, allowing us to appreciate their sweet perfume and delicate verdure.  Snapdragons are also a well-established family, spreading rapidly throughout our flowers, making themselves well acquainted with every esteemed member of our garden society.

But it isn't only plants that live in our backyard.  We get visits from strutting Doves, frisky Squirrels, graceful Butterflies, and delicate Hummingbirds.  The Doves gather in flocks and sit upon our dark fence nodding in approval at what we plant.  The Squirrels appreciate our ornamental pear tree; so many times I have seen our friendly caretakers examining our garden beds with the most capricious  of attitudes up in the boughs of our tree.  The lovely Butterflies enjoy our garden with a special interest.  They come frequently to catch up on the latest blossom of gossip, leaning close to the pretty heads, soaking in the murmur of words and nectar.

...Roses bask in the warm sunshine...

And the Hummingbirds, they come and they go without a care.  They zip through the haughty Snapdragons, race among the passionate Roses, angering the flowers and insulting their pride. For the flowers know that my attention belongs to the gentle flowers, but it is quickly stolen by the tiny green birds that appear as if out of nowhere.

...The haughty Snapdragons...

I love my little garden, with all its merry, little plants and happy, pretty flowers. I love the strawberries that grow on it's pyramid box, I love the lilies that govern over the rest of the flowers, and I love the fluttering moths that come to visit with quiet strokes of their powdered wings.

My garden makes me happy and I long to bless others with its fruitful vegetation. So with that said, whoever, wherever you are, I hope that this Scrapbook can share a piece of my joy with you.  May it make you as happy as it makes me.

....I love the strawberries....