An evening out back, in the dark, to cover plants. Surrounded by whatever’s left of ragged plants that have given their all, and the smell of someone’s fireplace. We’re well into fall, and yet the morning glories have just started producing buds. I respect their determination, their persistence, and feel the obligation to do my part, which is to protect them from cold nights. I looked up from the task at hand, to the dark cover of tall trees, and listened, deliberately, to the quiet.
I listened for crickets, and heard none. None at all. No cricket-style ‘call and response’. Nothing. It could have been winter.
Yet, in the midst of this quiet, I hear the soft pitapat of dried leaves rustling above me. A familiar rustling. A sound tucked away from the past, not from golden leaves and autumn nights, but from ancient trees and winter days. Days at the end of a long, bitter winter, when February winds blow through lofty limbs and the scattering of leaves still hanging on huge weathered pin oaks.
I turned to step back inside, and caught the creak of a single cricket. One lone, strong-willed cricket with something left to say, calling out from somebody else’s yard, somewhere in the distance.
A single tenacious cricket, and October’s wind rustling the leaves. Fall’s whimsy.
etikser 
I really like this. I was with you all the way.
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Thank you!
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I also was right there with you. I could even hear that cricket.
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I’m so glad to hear that. Thank you!
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Beautiful loved the last line.
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Thanks so much!
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Wonderful!🙂
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Thank you!
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Always sad when the crickets stop singing. I miss their sweet songs.
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Yes, it seemed a little too quiet too soon.
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Wonderful piece. It really draws you in and puts you in that environment. The start of autumn/fall to me always feel like a goodbye. It’s easy to feel in tune with nature in the spring and summer then there’s a certain quiet to the winter months.
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Thank you. I very much appreciate your comments. I feel the same about fall. I don’t want to say goodbye to the things of summer. Once I get to December, I’m over the hump, and I enjoy winter. I’m definitely a 4-season person.
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Lovely!
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Thank you!
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So beautiful
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Thank you so much!
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A wonderful celebration of the season and your place within it.
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Thank you so much!
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This is so lovely. Thank You! 💕
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Thank you so much. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
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My pleasure! 😊
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Such a lovely piece and while it is not exactly from the crickets’ perspective, I enjoyed how you enclosed your enchanting description of autumn with the wanting and hearing of cricket song.
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Thank you so much. I appreciate reading your take on it.
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