by Shirley Love

Created on: October 01, 2010

As was her custom at this time of year, Phyllis dressed with a lightweight cardigan over her sweats, grabbed her scarf, and walked out the door into a world of wonder.  It was her first reflective morning of the Fall season, the first of many she hoped. She had been following the walking routine for years, and the fact that she was now past her prime did not deter her in the least.

As always, the movie “The Wizard of Oz” pushed its way into her memory.  Leaving the comfort of her small house beside Lake Pontawa and entering the world of this most colorful season was like the scene where Dorothy awakens after the tornado, far from the bleak Kansas countryside to find herself in the colorful land of Oz.

It seemed as if God had outdone Himself this year.  The sky was a bit bluer, the air a bit crisper, and the colors of the leaves abandoning the trees were of the finest colors she had ever seen.  They were bright red, bold orange, sunny yellow, with a mixture of purple and maroon that seemed to compliment each other.

Across the lake, the trees seemed to burst into flame, and their regal beauty was captured in the reflecting cool water.  Phyllis had always found so much beauty in the Fall landscapes, and so much comfort in the fact that the stifling heat of the summer was a thing of the past.

She shifted her gaze to the field behind her humble home where Bill Adler was burning leaves in a controlled situation.  The wispy smoke permeated the air and filled the countryside with a delicious aroma “That smell should be patented and bottled,” she spoke aloud to nobody, but to the world at large.  She and Hal had always raked and burned leaves in the front yard of their cabin.  As that thought filled her mind, she felt the old sadness of nostalgia and loss, and she closed her eyes as she evoked the image of her husband as he had been those many years ago when he first brought her to this place.

It was to be their honeymoon cabin, but she fell in love with it immediately.  She mentioned the prospect of permanency to Hal, who did not need much convincing.  He had always loved the place, ever since he had visited the home of his grandparents when he was just a child.  It was part of his inheritance and he was delighted that Phyllis wanted to stay in spite of the fact that the cabin was small and had been victimized by a few years of nature’s rage and no maintenance.

They worked together in a

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