October Morning

October

O hushed October morning mild,

Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;

Tomorrow's wind, if it be wild,

Should waste them all.

The crows above the forest call;

Tomorrow they may form and go.

O hushed October morning mild,

Begin the hours of this day slow.

Make the day seem to us less brief.

Hearts not averse to being beguiled,

Beguile us in the way you know.

Release one leaf at break of day;

At noon release another leaf;

One from our trees, one far away.

Retard the sun with gentle mist;

Enchant the land with amethyst.

Slow, slow!

For the grapes' sake, if they were all,

Whose leaves already burn with frost,

Whose clustered fruit must else be lost-

For the grapes' sake along the wall.

- Robert Frost

I'm sitting here at my kitchen table where I usually write.  Today I'm distracted.  The view out my window is getting all my attention as it should.  Little Red is on a serious strawberry mission.  He's determined to singlehandedly stash away each and every hull and pith.  He's racing along the edge of the yard to the stump where I placed his breakfast earlier.  He chooses one, takes a nibble and retraces his steps to the cover of the trio of pines in the far corner.

There are more leaves on the ground now than on the trees.  With each gust, very mild and gentle today, more lose hold of their branches.  Watching them swirl and sail to the ground is bittersweet.  They are spectacular in their descent, but the change in scenery is no subtle reminder that we are now more than half way through my favorite month.

Sunday I saw a robin.  Monday a bluebird.  I cannot explain why they are so far north so close to winter.  Miss Bit is even happy there are no frogs to net when we visit a pond.  She knows that means they are tucked safely under the mud until spring. The young bucks we surprised on our walk in the woods last week were locking horns.  It is time for the rut.  Miss Bit finds a bug in the house and sets it free outside.  I don't have the heart to tell her that soon their little lives will end one way or another.    

I'm always beguiled by October days.  At Frost's command, I'm beginning the hours of this day slow and also willing the day to seem less brief.  And hear this October - Slow, Slow!