The end of summer and the beginning of autumn begins with blurred edges and ends with a sharp quick taste, like too-dark chocolate.
This year fall we have been graced with long Indian summer days paired with apple crisp evenings. Our too short summer is now extending into October.
Our local library hosts an evening pillow fight.
We daily wear bathing suits and T-shirts while frisking in the riotous spanking yellows and poignant orange pigments of the season.
Despite the weather, school is open…and with it we have new lessons, sharpened pencils, more Shakespeare, biology experiments and new poems to memorize.
What better poem to capture the season than Aftermath by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow?
When the summer fields are mown,
When the birds are fledged and flown,
And the dry leaves strew the path;
With the falling of the snow,
With the cawing of the crow,
Once again the fields we mow,
And gather in the aftermath.
Not the sweet, new grass with flowers
Is this harvesting of ours;
Not the upland clover bloom;
But the rowan mixed with weeds,
Tangled tufts from marsh and meads,
Where the poppy drops its seeds
In the silence and the gloom.
Or perhaps we need to hold a nugget of summer in our hearts, as expressed in this poem, Leisure, by William Henry Davies.
What is this life, if full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this, if full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
Let Me Count the Days: Homeschooling is spending just the right amount time studying this butterfly, and every other thing of beauty.
Filed under: Field Trips, Humanities, Literature, World Awareness | Tagged: Aftermath by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, classic children's literature, education, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, homeschool, homeschooling, Indian summer days, inspiration, Leisure by William Henry Davies, poetry, William Henry Davies | 2 Comments »
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