November's Thanksgiving

 

It all started on November 2nd, the day before America's presidential election, when, while walking home from the grocery store, I saw this on the sidewalk:

It seemed so much like a good omen to me, that I went back the next day to take a photo of it,

wanting to believe all things for "out with the old and in with the new."

[But talk about a stressful time, which continues until January 20th!]

On that walk, I finally captured and then researched this fruit:  quince.

It is totally new to me, in the apple and pear family.

Even some of these are new to me but I just love November's color.

Mother Nature hangs on as long as she can, doesn't she.

Did I ever mention how much I love autumn!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Four days later, on November 7th, we drove back to the Mastbos forest in Breda, NL (see last post), 

hoping to see something different, because it's huge (1409 acres).

We were not disappointed.

For one thing, the mushrooms were still flourishing...

...though different from the first time.

You know I'm a Hart, right!  :)

But the joy of the day was this!

I had just said to Astrid that it'd be a thrill to actually see a horse, since we were on a horse trail.

I turned around to look back and VOILA.  There it was.

We literally stopped dead in our tracks to watch them come and pass right next to us.

We couldn't have picked a better day to see autumn at its peak.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

The very next day, Sunday, November 8th, son Jeroen came over

 for a spontaneous walk with Hailey (now 2) around our citadel wall.

Just what the doctor ordered!

The rest of the month we've been been "processing" the presidential election and the pandemic,

roller-coasting between the myriad emotions they separately evoke.

What a crazy year!

But today, we stop to give thanks and rejoice.  We're alive and well.  Safe and sound.

To my American family and friends, please stay the same!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

An Autumnal Walk in the Lingebos and Mastbos Forests

It's my favorite time of the year...in spades!  So, as you'd guess, even in the midst of a pandemic, Astrid and I wanted to get out to enjoy the colors.  But, much to our surprise, even by now, at the end of October, we're still only at the beginning of our tree changes.

So, what you get in this post is what we DID see.  We really weren't that disappointed!

First, on October 10th, Saturday, we went to our nearby Lingebos in Vuren, just 6 km from home.  It's actually an artificial forest (284 acres) created by the government in the 1960s as a recreation area. To be honest, for how beautiful it is so near to us, we should go more often!

This is what it looked like that day, with only a few trees changing colors.

But as you see, there was plenty to see.

I really got addicted to these beauties.

And just about everything else going to seed!

I didn't even see Ms. Ladybug until I got home.  A nice surprise.

Mother Nature knows that even what we might see as imperfect is perfect.

I immediately thought of this from Martin Luther King, Jr:

"The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."

Then, just as it started to rain, we had a fleeting glimpse of the Childlike Joy we all need these days.

From my first photo to the last, it was only 35 minutes.

But we were filled up.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

The following Saturday, on October 17th, we decided to try another forest, the Mastbos (1409 acres), this time in Breda, 40 km from home.  It's one of the oldest pine forests in the Netherlands, planted in 1515 with Scots pine seeds from Nuremberg, Germany.

This was where we parked and started our walk.

Before turning off from the main road, I loved the sunlight on the cut lumber.

Once again, the color change was still at it's beginning.

But still...enough to make us happy!

We weren't the only ones out that day.

But sadly, the next day many roads to the forest were closed because of coronavirus,

which is spiking now all over Europe, as well as the rest of the world.

We were lucky to have been there right at the wire.

We needed the autumnal fix!

We had seen the Bouvigne Castle, from 1554, as we drove into our parking spot,

and made sure we walked back to it before leaving.

(No, it wasn't open.)

Then, while walking back to the car, this is what we saw all along the path:

Lichen is one thing and actually stands on its own.

But then, it was like the Faeries came out in force to serenade us around their homes.

Some of these I've never seen before!

Some made me believe in growing older gracefully.

Some reminded me of why "it takes a village,"

something we so desperately need in these estranging times.

And because it's almost Halloween, how about a big 

BOO.

(It actually creeped me out!)

This time we had 2 hours of filling up our senses with, and I repeat myself,

my favorite time of the year.  God willing and the creek don't rise, 

maybe we'll get another walk in before it's all gone!

Till then, let's hope and pray next week's American Presidential Election remains as "calm" as possible.

(sigh)