Focus on the Stars

 "And all at once, summer collapsed into fall." Oscar Wilde

This past week my "live-in gardener" and I drove north to the top end of Washington State. As we drove north I was looking for fall/autumn. I saw many trees along the way that were beginning to turn golden and some glimmers of red too. This part of the world has many evergreen trees; so the golden and reds are mixed in with the green. The weather was still sunny, not at all like fall/autumn. I continued watching along the adventure to see my sister-in-law and sipping a little tea.

The tea sipping happened in Seattle at the Northwest Tea Festival. There were a few hugs too for all the tea friends I saw there. I had some lovely puerh and oolong teas, which I shared with friends.

Along the road, the clouds told us that rain would be coming and along with the rain, fall would arrive.

This is Mt. Rainier with the cloud capping the top.

There is a lot of water in this part of the world. Here we were just taking off from Bainbridge Island to head across the water to Seattle. In no time at all we had arrived.

The views are plentiful. The water, cloud sightings, and trees touch my soul.

One of the little villages, Port Gamble, has this beautiful garden. I hadn't seen their re-do; so it was fun to see what they had done.

At the back were dahlias in bloom. They indeed brightened my day.

And across the road was more water.

This dock is on a military base at Port Townsend. It is a Marine Life Study Center.

Nearby we saw many deer wandering through town.

And we walked on one of my favorite little beaches to look for sea glass and rocks. My "live-in-gardener" couldn't resist a few pieces of driftwood to add to his bonsai collection decor.

And the view from my sister-in-law's home always delights my soul.

While watching from her windows I saw many birds, including an eagle, then also sea birds and river porpoise.

Nature always adds glimmers of joy to my heart.

I did find fall/autumn too; in the clouds and in the color of some trees.

Then the cooling of the weather and the drizzle of today said "here I am, I am here" as I pull out the socks from my drawer and the sweaters and hoodies from my closet I know the fall has arrived.

Has fall/autumn arrived in your part of the world?

Sending love,

Marilyn