The universe outside my window has been gentled into whiteness. Snow lies everywhere—on roofs, on branches, on the grass now indistinguishable from sky’s reflection—softening edges, quietening intention. In such weather, it seems almost instinctive to remain indoors, to honour warmth as one honours safety. Why would anyone willingly step out into this hushed severity unlessContinue reading “By The Window, After Snow”
Tag Archives: Nature
Between Falling Leaves and First Snow
Musings As the Year Closes Winter has arrived almost without notice. A few snow showers have already passed through, leaving behind a softened world and the promise of more to come. The brilliant colours and ensorcelling splendour of autumn have withdrawn without farewell. The golds and crimsons that once flared so confidently leave no trace.Continue reading “Between Falling Leaves and First Snow”
A Brief Tryst with Snow
I stepped out for a late afternoon walk on the roads of Short Hills, just after the land had been laid under a six-inch white carpet of snow. Overnight, the world had been quietly rewritten. Familiar streets, hedges, mailboxes, roofs, and lawns had surrendered their individual identities and merged into a single, dazzling expanse ofContinue reading “A Brief Tryst with Snow”
Maple: The Flame of Autumn
Not to speak of maples when the world of trees is considered would be a serious omission. But not to speak of them in autumn would be nothing short of a sacrilege. There are trees that announce themselves with grandeur, others that shelter us in silence, and yet a few that live in memory because of a single,Continue reading “Maple: The Flame of Autumn”
When the Leaves Become Light
On the Colours of Fall and the Grace of Change “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” — Albert Camus November has come, and with it the final flourish of fall. The trees of Short Hills now stand at the summit of their splendour—each one aflame with hues that no artist couldContinue reading “When the Leaves Become Light”
Feathers in the Falling Light — Part II
Birds of Short Hills In the Quiet Days of Late Autumn Morning in late October arrive softly beginning to wear its winter hush. The air thins, the light sharpens, and the woods grow spare. What was once a chorus has become a quiet ensemble — fewer voices, but each one distinct, resonant, enduring. The leaves that remainContinue reading “Feathers in the Falling Light — Part II”
The Radiance of Fall
On Beauty, Transience, and the Grace of Letting Go Each morning and evening, as I walk through the quiet streets of Short Hills (New Jersey), I am met by an astonishing theatre of transformation. The maples that only weeks ago stood in tranquil green now burn in gold, in orange, in impossible crimson. Every dayContinue reading “The Radiance of Fall”
The Oak-A tree of Time, Myth, and Memory- VI
In Memory and Intimacy: A Personal Companion “The tree is the slowest, most patient of all living things. To sit beneath one is to be reminded of what endures when everything else passes.”— John Fowles If myth made the oak divine, and art made it eternal, then memory makes it beloved. There are trees weContinue reading “The Oak-A tree of Time, Myth, and Memory- VI”
The Oak-A Tree of Time, Myth, and Memory – Part V
Oaks in Thought, Word, and Image: Literature, Art, and Human Creativity “Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,Sermons in stones, and good in everything.” -Shakespeare (As You Like It, Act II, Scene I) John Constable, The Cornfield (1826), National Gallery, London. If in myth the oak stood as a sacred emblem, and in ecologyContinue reading “The Oak-A Tree of Time, Myth, and Memory – Part V”
The Oak — A Tree of Time, Myth, and Memory -III
The Green Sovereign: The Oak’s Environmental Generosity “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.” — John Muir There are trees that stand in quiet splendour, content to let the centuries pass without fanfare. And then there is the oak — a monarch not onlyContinue reading “The Oak — A Tree of Time, Myth, and Memory -III”
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