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2011年11月3日 星期四

Deep Autumn




Autumn is always special to me. I like that crispness in the air, that long awaited farewell to the annoying humidity that glues our sweat to our skin, that cloudless sky which returns to the streams and ponds their crystalline clarity. It's the best time of the year for a hike. I did just that last week. The photos will tell their own story.




I started out from the Tsuen Wan end of the Shing Mun Reservoir and was welcomed by
the leaves of our municipal flower.




They were soon joined by the leaves of some ferns beginning to turn red.





But not all of them...





especially the creepers, determined to take advantage of the morning sun. 






and the little purple flowers too!.





A close up of some of them.





Some of them were rather shy. They prefer to hide under the leaves.





But the smaller flowers had no such coyness. Perhaps they took courage in numbers.





The signs of autumn were everywhere.





Amidst the lower branches of trees too..





There is no doubt that autumn is with us. It is clear who would go first!





This leaf is well past the worrying stage. But through the tear of its wound, we see Nature struggling still.





We see that the worms didn't lose any time either for a good meal.





However, the budding leaves were undaunted. They seemed to be saying: "We know our days will
come too. But will we stop living simply because we know that some day we're going to die? Let
tomorrow take care of itself! "





These young bamboo shoots are not going to be left behind either!





"But we're prepared! We shall have children yet!"





Ah, let's see what I found at the side of the path! A yellow mushroom, taking advantage of other's
decay!




And even a spider web! "What do I care about the mess. I've got to eat, don't I?"





I always like tree barks. They look so tough and textured..





This one looks almost like the surface of some rocks. They've weathered through sun, rains, winds, storms, typhoons and attacks by worms, insects and other parasites, even men!






See what I mean?





But they take it in their stride.  What does it matter if they lose a patch of their bark here and there.





Look at their textures, almost like meshed paper!





What are the whitish lines? Dried sap from their wounds?






Look at their colors: reddish brown and yellow!





More yellows from dried up moss.





Trees never lose any chance to sprout new leaves, in the most unexpected places.





Even from a beheaded stump, just so long as the roots are intact.





Mosses growing on the barks of a tree, like trees along the sides of a craggy mountain. When they die, the bark may become yellow.





But how big are these mosses growing on the surface of some rocks, compared to some of their distant cousins? Like giants amongst dwarves





Finally a pond!





I like the color of the smoothened out rocks and that of the log.





And the sheen of light upon its surface.





When I cast my eyes further out, something even better!





Before I left the reservoir, I found more flowers lining the path! Too good not to photograph!





Here's a red one.





And some yellow ones. But I don't know their name. Help anyone?

6 則留言:

  1. Indeed, how comforting and warm the stubble-fields of autumn are compared with chilly green of spring or the sweltering heat of summer. I can see John Keats’ AUTUMN in your photos. You’ve almost captured the full spirit of the verse. Well done.

    <Ode to Autumn --- John Keats>
    Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness!
    Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
    Conspiring with him how to load and bless
    With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;
    To bend with apples the mossed cottage-trees,
    And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
    To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
    With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
    And still more, later flowers for the bees,
    Until they think warm days will never cease,
    For Summer has o'erbrimmed their clammy cells.

    Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
    Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
    Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
    Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
    Or on a half-reaped furrow sound asleep,
    Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
    Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers;
    And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
    Steady thy laden head across a brook;
    Or by a cider-press, with patient look,
    Thou watchest the last oozings, hours by hours.

    Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
    Think not of them, thou hast thy music too, -
    While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day
    And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
    Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
    Among the river sallows, borne aloft
    Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
    And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
    Hedge-crickets sing, and now with treble soft
    The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft;
    And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.
    [版主回覆11/03/2011 18:10:53]I agree autumn is beautiful for those who have eyes to see. But you sure know how to joke! There's a limit to being nice to a friend. It must never exceed the bounds of courtesy.
    [Peter回覆11/03/2011 17:47:45]Autumn is for all to share and to celebrate in their own ways. No need to feel inferior in the presence of John Keats. You are a poet in your own rights.
    [版主回覆11/03/2011 17:41:48]Thank you. Keat's poem is full of the ripeness, the abundance of autumn, laden with fruit and a kind of drowsy satiety. Mine is but a pale reflection of that richness bursting from that supercharged poem of opulence.

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  2. 深秋的大紅花還是艷麗非常。那些樹紋很美呢。^_^
    [版主回覆11/04/2011 05:35:58]Thank you. I like them too. That's why I never get tired looking at them.

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  3. The yellow flower seems 黃槐
    [版主回覆11/04/2011 05:37:02]You're probably right. Thank you so much!

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  4. You've got these nice pieces of evidence of your day spent going back to nature. Trees of the tropical south do not usually show seasonabl variations. The reddish leaves are thus a pleasant surprise. All these plants seem to impress us with their optimistic attitude towards life, which, however, we may not so easily adopt. For example, I can never really let tomorrow ... my tomorrow ... take care of itself.
    [版主回覆11/04/2011 08:17:07]Nature is always a source of delight, a source of wonder, a source of admiration, a source of inspiration and a source of contemplation for me. That's why I enjoy going back to her again and again. Yes, Nature doesn't care about what we think of it. It just goes on doing what it has been doing for thousands and millions of years, i.e. be itself. We should learn from her.

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  5. 剛長出來的嫩葉很好看! 也很喜歡第二幅 ~~~~~ 像排列成 "7" 字的葉子、有趣!
    [版主回覆11/05/2011 01:50:45]I like them too. I like their form, their vitality, their "desire" and their "eagerness" to take their place in the sun. Thank you for visiting.

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  6. It's still quite hot this weekend despite of the deep autumn we are in. In fact, it feels more like summer than autumn. Blame it on La Niña, I suppose!
    [版主回覆11/10/2011 05:39:41]Yes, they call it "The Tiger of Autumn" in Chinese. You're probably right. Global warming is the result of unrestrained human consumption of fossil fuel and the release of harmful gases into the atmosphere. As our polar ice caps melt, there will be even more dramatic changes in our climate, both colder and hotter by turns.

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