A Sunday drive through Ashby's Gap

October 23, 2017

We've all heard the adage, "A picture is worth a thousand words." We're visual creatures. We absorb the world around us first by sight. With taste and touch, we need to be up close and personal. We may be able to hear or smell something at a bit of a distance, but we can see for miles. 


Yesterday, my little family group - me, the spousal unit, and the dog, went for a drive through the beautiful Shenandoah Valley to take in the autumn color. We were probably a week early, but I had a few vacation days to use or lose and am in the middle of a long weekend....read more here.

Autumn breaks

November 1, 2014

It's hard to image it being the first of November already. I find the wisdom of my elders to be painfully true. The older I get the faster the days go by. It seems like only a blink of the eye since the biting cold of last January. But it is November and lovely autumn's days have reached the breaking point. It's a quick slide into winter from here. 

There's an old song by Al Stewart with a line that sticks in my mind about "in a country where they turn back time." Tonight most of us in the States set our clocks back an hour. Do we really gain anything? Of course not. The length of each day is unchanged. 

Now it will be dark when I leave home in the morning and dark when I arrive back home. I do not see this as advantageous when it will trap me inside except for an all too brief lunch break. Retirement, anyone? 

My countdown clock now sits at 1,580 days. Aren't those little phone apps fun?! Will the date ever move forward? I hope so. I'm diligently saving my pennies in anticipation of becoming a full-time writer and the lady of my "manor."  At the same time I'm leaving myself open to all possibilities. Maybe just being able to leave the workforce when I choose is what I'm really looking forward to. That day will be a game changer in so many ways.  But I digress...

This morning we (the spousal unit and myself) hopped in the pickup and took an accumulated load of scrap metal to the scrapper. I'm happy to have the "crap" removed from the darkest corner of the shed and I'm sure those family members who took advantage of the opportunity to toss a few things in on the load were happy not to have to deal with it themselves. We decided to take the scenic route to our destination and it's obvious that in just a few days the trees will be bare. I used to mourn the passing of autumn but I've learned even bleak winter holds beauty. 

And so enough musing for today. I have a few chores to finish, a chapter to finish writing, and a bottle of wine chilling. Long about dark we're taking our glasses to the den and spending an hour or so enjoying the warmth of a fire in the wood stove. We'll call it practice for the colder evenings ahead. They will surely come.

KC
http://www.kckendricks.com

O is for the Orange Maple in Fall

April 17, 2014

2014 A to Z Blog Challenge

A Rural Life

Day 16

O is for the Orange Maple in Fall

Welcome to my corner of the A to Z Blogging Challenge. 

This year, 2014, I’ve chosen the theme, “A Rural Life.” I’m so blessed to live in rural America, close to nature. Big cities aren’t that far away by car so I’ve got the best of both worlds. Just like life, this year is turning out to be a mix-up - a wonderful combination of this and that all rolled into one that may seem chaotic on the surface but blends together to create the whole.

*_*_*_*

It’s an old adage we know well - “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Sometimes it’s true. So while it’s barely spring in my corner of the world, I’m giving you a taste of autumn as it has appeared from my front porch for each of the last thirty years.

This beautiful tree is the herald of fall in my yard. It's a little taller and broader now since this picture was taken, but its vivid fall color sets my heart alight with joy every fall.

O is for the Orange Maple that crowns the tiny rise in my front yard.

_*_*_*_

You didn’t really think you’d get away without a brief book promo, did you?

O is also for OPEN ROADS. For more information please visit my website at

https://kckendricks.blogspot.com/p/open-roads-by-kc-kendricks.html

KC Kendricks

twitter

blog

The Road Less Taken - Robert Frost

October 23, 2013

 

I have always loved The Road Less Taken by Robert Frost. Like the fellow in the poem, I find a long walk through the woods both invigorating and peaceful. I'm fortunate to live in a rural area surrounded by woods. I can choose a path for a morning walk and know mine are first feet to travel the road that day.

 

The autumn colors are slow in arriving this year, but by Saturday I expect to be able to walk the old paths and enjoy the fall woods. If I don't do it this coming weekend, I may have to wait a year. And like the poet, I may never pass this way again so now is the time.

 

Here's my favorite poem. Enjoy!

 

The Road Less Taken - Robert Frost

 

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

 

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

 

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

 

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

 

 

KC Kendricks

website

pinterest

twitter



Visiting the park on lunch break

October 2, 2013

I work in a growing town with a population approaching 50,000 souls. The community has its share of problems, same as all small towns losing their small town identity as they grow. One thing the town hasn't forfeited is its historic parks.

Over my lunch hour, I visited one of the oldest parks for some fresh air and a twenty-minute walk to shake off a morning stuck behind a desk. With autumn upon us, the number of lovely days left in this calendar year are dwindling. 

Anyway, I wanted to share a photo of this park still decked out in summer greens although it's evident autumn color is poised to arrive.

KC