Fire on the Mountains
Posted by Alex Carrier
Photos by Lou Page

It begins. One forked tongue of sunny yellow licks the green brow of the Blue Ridge Mountains. One leaf, then several, one tree, then more.

That yellow ember ripens, heats to blast brilliant orange into fiery crimson and deep-roasted hues of scarlet and burgundy.

In places, the flame dims, dies while naked branches rise up from hillsides and valleys, ridges and hollows of crinkled, curled bronze and copper and faded crackled brown.

Smoke rings of morning fog dim the blaze. Evergreens in dark loden clocks watch as sunrise lights the Eastern Shore, warms its way across Tidewater, past the Piedmont to glow along the ridge of the Appalachians.

Fall in Greene County is brazen, breathtaking. Each morning we, the Blue Ridge’s lucky neighbors, open our doors to front yards profuse with autumn color that races up the ridges to fall beyond the horizon.

It is wildfire season and we carefully search for smoke masquerading as fog or blazes hiding amongst the fiery color. This is no conflagration of disaster though.

This cauldron consumes the Phoenix of summer and begins nature’s long sleep beneath banked ashes of winter snow.

We will love that season as well and marvel at our frosted breath and the creaking of trees rubbing their branches together for warmth in winter wind.

And, when we have had our fill of winter’s pleasantries and pastimes, a feathered Phoenix will rise again along the Blue Ridge and display plumage of beryl and emerald and jade.

Don’t be teased by others who might promise the best performance of this fall. Come stand by us as we watch with awe as autumn turns Greene County yellow and gold and orange and red and bronze – again.

To find out about more about the four-seasons of beauty by the Blue Ridge in Greene County, go to http://www.vgreene.com/ or www.vgreene.com/greenelite. Check for the latest in fall festivals, arts and crafts, family fun and autumn activities. Read about our neighbors, our community, poems, essays and more on these free online magazines. Recipes, information, entertainment and our voices from the Blue Ridge and Greene County, Virginia.

© 2006 Virginia Greene