Twilight in Autumn

Twilight in Autumn

soft
twilight
is blooming
gold sun descends
into clouds of bronze
as shooting stars zip past
copper streaks on black velvet
night sky comes alive with color
the moon turns a whiter shade of pale
while I trip the light fantastic with you

Colleen Keller Breuning @ 2025
October 11, 2025

Happy Saturday! Finally, the temperatures have cooled off the last two days, and it is starting to really feel like autumn. When we took a walk around the lake last weekend, the colors had not even started to change much. This is probably because of the unseasonably warm September we had, plus a late start to summer. Dan says he heard that it’s supposed to be a warmer winter in the coming year, but I never believe what they forecast a season ahead of time. Things can change on a dime around here.

I’m hoping for a deep freeze so it kills all these damn lantern flies, which have been gathering in clumps on our maple trees. This is a new invasion of foreign insects in the past few years that we did NOT need! They are very destructive to some trees, and especially to the vines in our local vineyards in Northern VA. They are just gross – big, clumsy and hard to kill! They fly into your face and annoy the heck out of you. The most effective way to kill them short of burning down your trees is to make a concoction of clear Dawn soap, vinegar and water and spray them! So every day Dan goes out for a round of spraying, but the problem is you can only reach so high. Plus, they lay a disgusting bunch of eggs which if you don’t scrape them away, will hatch in the spring to proliferate this disgusting species. UGH! If it’s not lantern flies, it’s stinkbugs…but I must say, they are easier to deal with than the life-sized Florida ROACHES aka Palmetto Bugs. Those damn things FLEW and always appeared when you were in your most vulnerable state – or naked and alone in the middle of the night without a handy can of Raid nearby, LOL!

Thank you for attending my TED talk on annoying insects. And now, I’m going to head out to the Purcellville Tag Sale with Dan since it’s a lovely, cool day. Have a great weekend!

Xoxo,
Colleen

Ecrits Blogophilia Week 15.17 – Trip the Light Fantastic
Hard Bonus: Incorporate a Procol Harum lyric (“Whiter Shade of Pale”)
Easy Bonus: Include a mineral color (copper, bronze, gold, etc)