It is the exquisite and early hour,
The sudden sunrise reddens the sky.
Through the autumn mist
The garden leaves fall.

Their fall is slow. We can follow them
With our eyes and recognize
The oak by its leaf of copper,
The maple by its leaf of blood.

The last ones, the most rusty
Fall from the bare branches,
But it’s not winter yet.

A fair light sprinkles down on
Nature and in the whole rosy sky
You’d think it was snowing gold.
~François Coppée “October Morning”

This is a compilation of October sunrises from over the past decade, most taken from the same spot in our farm’s backyard. Twice a year, in early October and late May, we may be blessed to see the sun cast a mountain shadow across the clouds in the sky.

October dawns are sometimes flashy and flamboyant, sometimes subtle and somber, but always a harbinger of a time of quiet and reflection.

This year’s mornings are sadly smoky; we raise prayers for a cleansing rain to come soon. We need more than falling leaves to rain down like golden snowflakes. We need precious water drops to wash away all that has become ashen and renew the parched and dying.