Chapel Hill, North Carolina
There’s hardly a spot of color on the hardwood trees in our yard, but the light is glorious, as it always is in October, and the signs of fall are unmistakable. ….. Always, when nature works as nature must, there are joys for every grief, a recompense for every sorrow. ….. Night falls earlier with each passing day now, but the recompense of shorter days is the glorious light of October. I wish you could see what happens to the magnificent colors of berry and bird and flower in the slanting light of October.
~ Margaret Renkl
(The New York Times, October 14, 2024, “Growing Darkness, October Light: A Backyard Census”)
These pictures were taken on Friday morning, the day we stood in line at the Chapel Hill Public Library to vote. Afterwards we took a walk on the trails in the woods surrounding the library. North Carolina has early voting, something new to us. Before we left Connecticut we had voted in favor of bringing early voting to our old state. I wonder if it passed. Our habit was to get up early on election day and get to the polling place before it opened. We were always near first in line.
Something new for the citizens of NC is having to show a photo ID when they check in to vote. We always had to do that back in CT. It’s so interesting getting to know the different ways the governments of different states run things, something I never thought about before, having lived in only one state my whole life.
As I stood in line I reflected on how encouraging it was to learn that our 39th President, Jimmy Carter, made the effort to vote while in hospice care at the age of 100. He was the first president I ever voted for. My thoughts also returned to the sacrifice so many of our ancestors made for us in the Revolutionary War, so that we could have the right to vote today. As the granddaughter of Ukrainian immigrants on one side and the descendant of several Mayflower passengers on the other, my complex place in American history has always fascinated me. While appreciating the myriads of reasons Europeans have crossed the Atlantic over the centuries to make better lives for themselves here, I also feel deep regret for the harm they have caused to the original people who lived, and still live here.
When we moved down here I started looking for southern nature writers who might help me get acquainted with my new environment. I’ve become a big fan of Margaret Renkl, who lives in Tennessee at the same southern latitude as we do. Her lyrical writings resonate with the seasonal observations I’m experiencing here. I’ve read three of her books, checked out from the same beautiful library where we voted, and enjoy her occasional editorials in the New York Times.
I tried to capture some of the slanting light of October to match Renkl’s words. This is our second autumn down south and the way it is unfolding feels much more familiar now, it’s starting to feel more like home.
If you aren’t already acquainted with Barbara Kingsolver, I think you will enjoy her nature writing, fiction and nonfiction, and all her writing.
Thanks for reminding me! Barbara Kingsolver is one of my favorite authors and I’m pretty sure I’ve read all of her books over the years. They’re not all set in the south, though. But Prodigal Summer is, and it may be favorite one. This would be a good time to read it again!
Hello dear friend!
Enjoyed reading your entry today on October light. It has been a glorious several weeks here in Connecticut with the beautiful light, cooler temps, and developing colors. Glad to know the changing season is reaching you now, also!
Yes! Connecticut has early voting and today is the first day ever! My only concern is that the ballots are not immediately tabulated here, but are treated like absentee ballots and held for some later processing. I need to find out more from my local registrar so I don’t worry about my vote being “lost” or delayed.
Have a thought for my mom today. She is spending a night or two in a “hobbit house” in NC. Hope the weather is dry so they can be out of doors during the day, perhaps rambling around the local countryside before retiring to read out loud from Tolkien in the evening. Literary bucket list!
Hi there, Janet! I’m glad you enjoyed my post and am so happy to hear that you’re having a spectacular autumn up there, my friend!
Also happy to know Connecticut has early voting now, but I can see why you’re concerned. Our ballots went right into the machine so I assume they were tabulated right then and there. Over a million people have voted so far down here. I hope your concern will be addressed to your satisfaction.
Oh my goodness, I did a search for hobbit houses in NC and there are quite a few! I never heard of them before. I can’t wait to hear from your mom what the experience was like! Fortunately there is no rain in the forecast down here for the foreseeable future. I hope she’ll be warm enough at night, though.
Beautiful foliage that lends itself to your contemplation about both the good and bad that has come from exploration of new worlds. The sculpture in the parking lot is a hoot.
I like the way you summed that up, Ally. Seems like every human endeavor has mixed results. Good thing a lot of sculpture artists have a sense of humor to lighten the mood.
Barbara, I’m so happy to hear you’re acclimating! It does take a while, but having moved around quite a bit myself, I’ve always found that one can “help” things along by staying active and interested, by welcoming the differences of new place to former place, and by getting involved in activities important to you. These are lovely photos, and I appreciate October’s warmth. (Guess we’d better, huh, because it surely won’t last!!)
Thanks, Debbie! We’re doing pretty well in the acclimation process. Like you say, it helps to keep an open mind and an open heart, welcoming the differences as an observer rather than as a critic. I’ve always believed that different doesn’t mean better or worse, and that there are many ways to live and embrace life. Glad to hear you’re enjoying October’s warmth up there. The squirrels down here are very busy preparing for winter.
I imagine it has taken a bit of an adjustment after living your whole life in CT, climate, customs, etc.
It strikes me that Tim looks more and more like Santa with each passing year. 🙂 He could work at the mall come December! 😉
Haha! Tim gets that a lot! This year for Halloween he’s going to be a garden gnome — all he needs is the hat and a wide black belt to wear over his shirt. If he swaps out some red pants and a red shirt he could easily transition to Santa a few weeks later. 😉
👍🏼 Gotta get some pix of that! 🙂
I’ll try! 🙂
That’s a perfect quote by Margaret Renkl and your slanting picture is perfect as well Barbara. Now you are enjoying your second Fall since moving to North Carolina and you have gotten to know the lay of the land and know where to revisit and explore. I like that sculpture – it is unique.
It’s true, I am enjoying this autumn a lot more now that I know to expect the colors to arrive gradually over a couple of months instead of all at once like they did up north. There are so many places to explore here we’ve barely scratched the surface!
You have a lot to look forward to Barbara. I got out yesterday, the one day that Jacob showed up when I decided to go out … the car needed a run, we have rain today and I wanted some shots of the colorful leaves, but he said it would be this weekend not before, so I went to Lake Erie Metropark and Elizabeth Park. Got some red and yellow leaves pics and did those two walks, plus Council Point Park before that – six miles, came home and he was done with the landscaping and gone – he gathers no moss once he gets there, but had a helper yesterday. He has a few details he has not finished and/or overlooked – sigh. It is raining today, so he is not here and he has a roof project this weekend, so that is why he pushed me ahead, but it is good to be done with him for now and everything is ready for planting a butterfly garden and the arborvitae bushes next Spring.