Fall in Leaves

Fallen leaves ---
Raking,
Yet not raking.
attributed to Taigi

This was my weekend zen poem. So few words evoke many thoughts and memories.

As a child, I loved the fall. Leaves would change colors and then fall. Falling leaves meant winter was coming, but more importantly, raking and jumping into piles of leaves. Stuffing scarecrows. The smell of leaves starting to decompose and become food for the next year's plants. Raking and jumping into more piles of leaves. Sweaters, heavier jeans, scarves. And more leaves for raking and jumping.

As I've gotten older, the leaves seem to fall sooner. It could be that I've also moved north, where they do fall sooner, but it seems that they start falling in August. The fall isn't marked as much by the changing colors and falling leaves. It's marked now by the darkening of days, the waning sunlight, the shortened time my office is lit without light bulbs. I still love the fall, but it's a different kind of love. Less thrill of leaves falling and raking and jumping. More excitement about the farm bounty that comes with the fall. Contentment that comes from the calmness with which the seasons move onward, round-and-round.

It's still the small things about the season that are the most memorable. Squash of all varieties. Hot chocolate on cold night. Yellow and red leaves fallen on the sidewalks, blown by the winds winding their ways along the Brooklyn streets.

I guess things haven't really changed too much. I love the fall. It's my favorite season.

I failed the whole writing for a month thing

I think I need to set smaller goals. Smaller...incremental goals. :)

GOAL: write something once every two weeks that makes me happy.

Characters

The characters will be:

Tamarind (Sweet Tree?)
Tarragon (Little Dragon?)
and maybe Tamoka (River?)

Basically, they are going to be searching for and collecting heirloom seeds. Their goal: get them safely to the Norwegian-run seed depositary hidden deep in the Arctic. Their foes: Big Agri-Business. Maybe some ninjas... :)

So, I've got the idea down and it's time to start the writing...

NaNoWriMo

I'm like many people out there...at least many people I know.  Secretly wanting (or not so secretly) to be a writer, but just not motivated enough to put myself out there and try.  I discovered NaNoWriMo, and I'm going to try to meet its challenge:  50,000 words in 30 days.  Starting tomorrow.  Wish me luck!