October's Bright Blue Weather

Mrs. Bosely, my fourth grade teacher, was a big fan of choral reading. Choral reading, if you've never heard of it, is also known as "voice choir", where group members recite a poem, sometimes in unison, with movements and voice changes for effect. It was popular in the late 19th century as the entertainment of church and school functions. While it was the middle of the 20th century, large sections of western Pennsylvania had not yet been informed of that, so Mrs. Bosely continued to edify our young minds in this classic tradition. After learning a new poem, our grade would go around to the other classes in the school to perform it for them.

Our most popular piece was a poem from 1893 by Helen Hunt Jackson titled "October's Bright Blue Weather" Even if it is obviously a 19th century piece, it still is a good poem.

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 bumble-bee makes haste,
Belated, thriftless vagrant,
And Golden-Rod is dying fast,
And lanes with grapes are fragrant;

When Gentians roll their fringes 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 suns and skies and flowers of June,
Count all your boasts together,
Love loveth best of all the year
October's bright blue weather.

See? It is good, although I wonder how many fourth graders would recognize a gentian with the fringes rolled tight or a chestnut's satin burr now.

Still, just say "October's bright blue weather" and everyone will know what you are talking about: crisp, clear, sunny days and cool nights. Sweater weather. Dash and I were out at the studio house last week, wandering around the back yard, enjoying October's bright blue weather. I should have been quilting that quilt that's been under the machine for a few months now or waxing that piece of fabric I've been working on for two years now. I could have been cleaning the studio, which needs it badly, or cleaning my house, which needs it worse. I might have been typing monthly reports, working for world peace, or helping the homeless. But I wasn't. I was making a small dachshund very happy and enjoying myself in the process. Love loveth best of all, October's bright blue weather.