So far I've noticed two apple trees along the pond route. I wish I knew the varieties, but I think the smaller ones must be crabapples. (Aidan and I saw a bin of crabapples at Joe's Place Farms today and that helped jog my apple memory. Which is more like applesauce lately. Ha!)
Last week I observed that some of the fruit had ventured down the lane, and I wondered if it had traveled there with the aid of a curious child . . . or a hungry animal.
The tiny gnawing marks I observed today suggest that it must have been a squirrel (or some other small rodent). The number of windfall (or squirrel-fall) apples increases daily now.
Rose hips seem more vibrant than ever, a deep orange that would probably be called "red-orange" on the Crayola spectrum. Perhaps their vibrancy is due more to the fading surroundings than to an actual deepening of color. Either way, I find the splash of color breathtaking every time I approach a heavy-laden rose bush.
The blackberries have now shriveled to practically nothing. I'll admit I miss the leisurely August days of plucking a plump blackberry or two from the brambles as I walked by, but the skeletal branches do have a beauty of their own.
Here is beauty from decay.
E.W. Teale
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