I woke up this morning to a clear, cool day. A blue sky and a breeze that is gaining strength as the morning moves to noontime. A storm is coming. The summer was bright, hot, muggy and stormy. But now…I feel the rhythm of Earth in my hemisphere as she begins to store energy for the winter. The sun comes different now and I welcome this warmth. I step outside on bare feet and feel the ground and I am cold yet, very much alive.
I stand silent and watch pollinators gather from the native flowers that grow in my yard; New England and White Wood Asters, Goldenrod, Fleabane and Jerusalem Artichoke (from whom I hope to harvest tubers to eat this year). The Evening Primroses that grew so high are now done and I’ve cut down their long stalks to pile in the little wood by the stone wall. Leaves will fall and cover these stalks creating a home for insects, bees, and anyone with whom we share this earth who needs it.
When I go back inside my little home on the hill I play, sing, and listen to music for this season. My list is long, but here a few.
Autumn Leaves: I like both Nat King Cole and Eva Cassidy’s singing
Autumn in New York: Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and newish artist, Allison Young with Josh Turner
Stick Season: Noah Kahan – he has a pain in this song I am drawn to
Feuilles mortes (Dead Leaves): Claude Debussy
Harvest Moon: Neil Young (a memory of Glimmerglass Opera in NYS – so beautiful)
The Seasons: Autumn: Thea Musgrave (a storm at sea is my impression)
Linger: The Cranberries
Das Jahr (The Year): September, October, November: Fanny Mendelssohn
In Autumn: Amy Beach
What do you do to welcome the Fall? What is your ‘soundtrack’? (And if you’re looking for live music: https://meetinghouse.life/events-calendar/)
Sara Vokes
Music Director
