after the leaves fell

now that the fires of autumn have smoldered to ashy starkness, i have begun to seek color in other places. for example, at this time of year, i always relish people’s sudden and very temporary willingness to wear orange. i also find myself twiddling with my beading more, even if all i do is just stir the color-sorted compartments with my fingers and draw a blank, so to speak. but as it turns out, the holler and surrounding hillsides have a few ideas of their own. one of late fall’s favorite colors seems to be blue. not just any blue, but a fantastic, living, royal blue that puts sapphires to shame in the form of the vivid blue jays i see glints of in the woods. their proud black and white crowns atop their heads, they defy the cooling air, waiting migration just to show off their vividness, i think. not to be outdone, at least one perfect cardinal is still hanging around here, and at least one royal bluebird as well.
another defier of the dimming of the year is a fellow i came upon driving home from town a few days ago. rounding a bend there was a tractor with wagons stopped in the road. at first i didn’t see the wonder, but the farmer flagged me to the side as i went around him. in the middle of the road, proud and fighting, was a snapping turtle a good foot in diameter if he was an inch. i’m not sure why the fellow glared at me when it was the farmer picked him up by his log-like tail, but i assured him i wasn’t in the mood for a tangle.
perhaps the crowning glory of the holler’s fall is not the brightest colored birds or the most tenacious turtles, but the glimpse i got one day topping the hill just before home. just at the top of the hill i slammed on the brakes to marvel at a small flock of proud wild turkeys crossing the road, calm as you please. probably they were seeking a place where the hunters had yet to tread. still they stood, proud and unfazed, as i crept the car past them, and i understood in that moment why benjamin franklin once expressed the opinion that they, and not the eagle, should be our national symbol.
then again, franklin also believed beer was a sign that God wants us to be happy, so maybe he was under the influence...