Sunday, October 31, 2010

delicious dichotomy


Delicious autumn!  
My very soul is wedded to it, 
and if I were a bird 
I would fly about the earth 
seeking the successive autumns.  

George Eliot, in a letter to Miss Lewis, October 1, 1841

Yesterday, when we were preparing the patio for winter, bringing the plants inside and packing away the patio umbrellas, I found this bird's nest, with two eggs, tucked in a corner of the screened porch. Last spring, for some reason or another, a mother bird was prevented from returning to her nest. The juxtaposition of new life against a backdrop of fall leaves was a striking dichotomy, and personally symbolic, since I consider autumn to be my season of new beginnings.  Maybe this little bird flew off, like me, in search of autumn.

61 comments:

  1. What a rare find, and you captured it so beautifully, both the image and in words!

    Happy Halloween, Willow,
    with warm wishes,
    Merisi

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  2. what a cool treasure williow. rejuvenated by the season as well...carefull of the things that roam your halls tonight...smiles.

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  3. Sad for the life that never was, but a beautiful photograph.

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  4. I agree with Merisi, a rare find, and captured so well in the image, the quote and your own words.

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  5. Wouldn't it be lovely to have wings that could take us wherever it was that we wanted to be.Beautiful photo Willow and beautiful words!
    Happy Halloween to you & yours!!

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  6. brilliant sentiment. i guess George could just board a jet now--he wouldnt have to be a bird to fly

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  7. You know, willow, sometimes I think it's Autumn that finds us.

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  8. Tom, you're so right, except this George is a "she"!

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  9. Martin, I adore the notion of autumn finding us.

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  10. Looks like a Pigeon's nest and eggs. Maybe it was too low down and a cat scared them off!

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  11. Fabulous post, willow, words and image.

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  12. Sad for the birds! except they now are maybe chasing warmer skies...Nice picture.
    Fall has the hope of new learning attached to it for me. Renewal perhaps of
    a commitment to growing in different ways and directions. Thanks.

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  13. Also agree with Merisi. Are you going to preserve the little nest and eggs Willow? You might could donate it to a habitat center if there's one nearby... something interesting for children to view.

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  14. Fascinating picture! And beautiful.

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  15. I always wonder when nests get abandoned or ravaged if the mother bird suffers and worries about her eggs.

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  16. I see a heart, which the two eggs form.

    I see love everywhere!

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  17. It is rare to find the eggs in perfect condition. It would be pretty to display.

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  18. Beautiful words and picture!

    For my part, it would be Spring I went in search of . .. I love Autumn but find it a little melancholy.

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  19. Stunning! What you have captured is really beautiful! Thanks

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  20. Stunning photography. The light against the brown and dark contrast is compelling.

    Great George Eliot quote. Wish I could fly about and search things out.

    Also love the Halloween picture of your Dad.

    Happy Happy Halloween.

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  21. Perfect post or the day. This is such a beautiful and significant reflection for our family on October 31. Today is Cuyler's 29th birthday. This makes his 22nd birthday since his diagnosis of a malignant brain tumorat age 7. Ever since his 8th birthday, Halloween has been transformed into Christmas for all of us.
    Life is filled with so many magnificent mysteries and gifts like the the crisp air, red and golds, and autumn souls like you!

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  22. Beautiful photo, sad though.

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  23. willow -- lovely nest shot. Autumn is my favorite too. Nature has a different slant on autumn in each region of the country. -- barbara

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  24. Delightful, Delicious, Delovely! Its almost as though time stood still..and the little eggs became ghosts! Happiest of Hallowness!
    :) The Bach

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  25. If I could, I would also fly about the earth "seeking successive autumns". Autumn is my favorite time of year. I was born in it. I hope to die (long in the future) at the very end of it. It's the most beautiful season of all.

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  26. willow i surely like that quote. the image is arresting also. steven

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  27. Poignant yet so beautiful and, yes, inspiring! It IS a season of new beginnings!

    Happy Autumn!

    Love,

    ♥ Robin ♥

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  28. Gorgeous photograph.
    The two eggs look exactly like a heart.

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  29. Happy Halloween
    I do hope the eggs make it
    I'm a little worried.
    Greetings and love.

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  30. Ruth and Pamela, the eggs DO look like a pristine white heart! I didn't see it until now. Perfect for my love of autumn, and especially for you, FireLight, a symbol of love and of life.

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  31. Beautiful photo, Willow-really. Gorgeous. Also love that juxtaposition you have there and remember too that Autumn is the Spring of your rejuvenation. :) Enjoy.

    You know, i do see a similarity here too between the nest of eggs adn Autumn. --both of these show that life has been here but death comes too. There is a melancholy in the fading life and beauty.

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  32. It is amazing how you have made this all come together - Eliot's poem, your words, your feelings about autumn, and that incredible picture with the fallen leaf in bed with the springtime eggs. I found it all very moving. Spring and autumn in cahoots.

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  33. That photo is a prize winner, Willow!

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  34. An incredibly beautiful photo! Interesting - for me too, autumn feels like the season of new beginnings, but if you live in the southern hemisphere (which I did for many years) where school/university years begin in January and end in December, and autumn happens in April/May, this is somewhat counter-intuitive! Pop over to my latest post to see how halloween is celebrated in my pocket of England ...

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  35. Great photo and capturing of the moment.

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  36. I love this photo Willow...may I keep it?
    Like you, I believe Autumn is a time for beginnings. Ones that start by going deep inside to nourish and build over the winter and be born in the spring.
    This is a magic time of the year.

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  37. Jacqueline, thank you, of course you may! If you re-publish it, just make sure you give me credit.

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  38. Stunning, indeed! And it IS a heart!

    Happy new autumn to you and yours.

    Trena

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  39. This is an unusual find and a lovely poem.

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  40. A lovely discovery, very wabi-sabi, and I love the poem by George Eliot.

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  41. I promise...right now it' s my screensaver...thank you!

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  42. I agree, this pic is a prize winner,
    for it could be an image prompt
    without text, and become the next
    Magpie challenge; it is a picture
    that is fertile with symbol, color,
    several meanings, and a dynamic
    statement.

    I remember doing a Biology project
    back in Junior High, keeping a set
    of fertilized eggs and opening them
    at different stages of chick development;
    learning what the blood spots in some
    eggs really are, that we are eating a
    fetus of sorts when we gobble eggs.
    I could not eat eggs for a year
    afterward, but I got over it, and knock
    down several a week now.

    Halloween must be over in Ohio now,
    or nearly. It is 6:30 here in Pacific
    Time, and no children have come to our
    door yet. Parents are more wary than
    ever of letting kids roam. You did say
    that Willow Manor is back in the
    boonies, and no trick-or-treaters
    brave the trek to it. Oh well, you have
    the housekeeper and the hanged man
    to keep your spirits up, right?

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  43. the hanged man

    All hallows eve is here,
    and no children's voices
    can be heard on the veranda
    or porch of the manor.
    We reside too far from the
    comfort of other residences,
    and the kiddy ghosts, rock
    stars, and super heroes stay
    away;

    but the hanged man stands
    haggardly behind me in the
    kitchen, part of the rope still
    around his gray neck, a piece
    of it dangling like a winter
    scarf, pointing to the front
    yard where he ended his
    sad life, but forgot to leave.

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  44. Beautiful image Willow. I too live for Autumn and Winter. I am not myself in Spring and Summer, unlike most of the world who seem to treasure those seasons.

    Hope you had a wonderful Halloween!

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  45. This is a beautiful photo willow! I have considered autumn to be my new beginning, my new year too...

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  46. Oh, so sad that she didn't make it back. Beautiful photograph.

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  47. My, a chance find but a great image willow. It registers life, a progeny to come!

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  48. Beautiful picture, Willow, and lovely words to go with it.

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  49. Glenn, your poem is a wickedly perfect Halloween treat! Thank you, my friend! ((shivers))

    No trick-or-treaters back here at the manor. They do have something for the city folk in my little neck of the woods called "Beggar's Night", which was on Thursday this year, when all the kids go trick-or-treating.

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  50. Brilliant, the notions that strike you = ' )

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  51. What is it about Autumn that makes us swoon, a treasure indeed...I thought of you this weekend and wondered if you had
    'the willies'...heehee!

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  52. What a little gem of a picture, and I really love that George Eliot quote!

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  53. Too beautiful for words.

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  54. That is wonderful find. Just the other day I started making new calling cards using collage. I decided to use the bird's nest as part of the theme. Even though we often associate it with spring it really is a resting period prior to birth which is so much what I consider the autumn to be.

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  55. oh, willow, I can't even explain how much I love that photo, the idea of it.
    it takes my breathe away.

    thank you for sharing it, for pairing it with such fine words and gifting it .

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  56. This is such an amazing find....love the analogy of Autumne and flying in search of it....another wonderful post Willow! Happy Autumn! :-)

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  57. I too have been putting away the outside cushions, and outdoor furniture and moving the more delicate potted plants into my new greenhouse- watching leaves turn yellow and orange and fall off- missing summer but adjusting to the colors of autumn.

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  58. Layers, we were just discussing this tradition, this lovely yearly task, of ushering out summer and welcoming winter.

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Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence.
― O. Henry (and me)