Today was a pretty day. As was the previous one, the one before that, and the one before that. The way things have been going lately, it's plausible that tomorrow, too, will be pretty, lovely, or even beautiful. It's inevitable, in this autumn season. Even the word itself is pretty, the way the u's and m's and n's slide into one another. Each day brings a new spectrum of color, a different sky, a different atmosphere.
"Pretty" neatly covers autumn, with its bright leaves and changing skies. But autumn is a multi-faceted season, and naturally, it is multi-faceted in its prettiness. And so I've brought before you ten versions of autumn, ten different "pretty days," each of them beautiful.
1. Bright, early autumn
This is an early-autumn day, at the crossroads of summer and fall. The sky is light-bright-blue, the leaves are a mixture of green and orange and scarlet. It's rather warm, an outdoors kind of day - this picture was taken during a hike.
2. Big sky autumn
Some days have mangnificent, sweeping clouds that make the sky look big and the brightly colored earth's surface look small. These days are best spent wandering outside, either thinking or talking with a friend, to get the fullest sense of the enormous sky.
3. Burning bright autumn
Brilliant blue sky brings out the fire in leaves. This is a day of breathtaking color, the color that postcards and magazines try to capture.
4. Bright raindrops on the windshield autumn
Pictures do not do justice to lights and leaves and rain drops on the windshield. Autumn drives are lovely even in the rain.
5. Leaves on leaves on your shoes autumn
The leaves are scattering thick on the grass and you cannot help but bury your shoes in them. And maybe yourself. (Everyone should jump/lie in a pile of leaves at least once.)
6. Golden avenues and gazebos in autumn
Small towns are loveliest in autumn. Sidewalks, streets, and gazebos look their most charming when scattered with colorful leaves. Think Stars Hollow.
7. Misty, faraway autumn
There is a certain kind of autumn day when the sky is gray, the mist is on the hill, and the leaves are not so bright - a wistful kind of autumn day. Not to be confused with the ordinary rainy autumn day - this is of a quieter variety.
8. Autumn inside (with soup and coffee)
The cold, wet, leaf-dripping days are best spent in coffee shops. Preferably with a warm mug of coffee and a book (or a friend).
9. Autumn like gold
Did you know leaves could be so close to shining like gold? Walk around on a day when the wind is blowing and let the leaves scatter around you.
10. Autumn at the end
There comes a day when the trees have grown stark, the leaves are dry and crackling, and color has begun to fade. This is autumn at its ending - still beautiful in its own way. The beauty of snow is on its way.
