Some of us may have been reminded on recent days of a little poem that we memorized as schoolchildren. It’s titled “October’s Bright Blue Weather,” and it was written by Helen Hunt Jackson, 1830-1885.
“O suns and skies and clouds of June,/ And flowers of June together,/ Ye cannot rival for one hour/ October’s bright blue weather;
“When loud the bumblebee makes haste,/ Belated, thriftless vagrant,/ And goldenrod is dying fast,/ And lanes with grapes are fragrant;
“When gentians roll their fingers tight/ To save them for the morning,/ And chestnuts fall from satin burrs/ Without a sound of warning;
“When on the ground red apples lie/ In piles like jewels shining,/ And redder still on old stone walls/ Are leaves of woodbine twining;
“When all the lovely wayside things/ Their white-winged seeds are sowing,/ And in the fields, still green and fair,/ Late aftermaths are growing;
“When springs run low, and on the brooks,/ In idle golden freighting,/ Bright leaves sink noiseless in the hush/ Of woods, for winter waiting;
“When comrades seek sweet country haunts,/ By twos and twos together,/ And count like misers, hour by hour,/ October’s bright blue weather.
“O sun and skies and flowers of June,/ Count all your boasts together,/ Love loveth best of all the year/ October’s bright blue weather.”
May we enjoy it in Chattanooga – while we can!