The View From "Bide-A-Wee"

In this

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun,

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruit the vines which 'round the thatch-eaves run,

To bend with apples the mossed cottage trees,

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core,

To swell the gourd and plump the hazel shell

With a sweet kernel. To set budding more,

And still more, later flowers for the bees,

Until they think warm days will never cease,

For summer hath o'er-brimmed their clammy cells.

Thank you, John Keats. That's the first stanza of "To Autumn," typed from memory, so there may be a glitch or two from published versions.

"Bide-A-Wee" is what we call the little cabin we put on our Wisconsin land. It's Scottish and means "rest a while." Melinda came up with it. It seems to fit, especially the "wee" part.

Happy autumn.

Copyright 2008 by Brett Laidlaw