It is becoming a little annual tradition here at Letters from a Hill Farm to post this wonderful song by Cheryl Wheeler. The lyrics follow the video if you'd like to sing along.
When Fall Comes To New England
Words And Music by
Cheryl Wheeler
When fall comes to New England
The sun slants in so fine
And the air's so clear
You can almost hear the grapes grow on the vine
The nights are sharp with starlight
And the days are cool and clean
And in the blue sky over head
The northern geese fly south instead
And leaves are Irish Setter red
When fall comes to New England
When fall comes to New England
And the wind blows off the sea
Swallows fly in a perfect sky
And the world was meant to be
When the acorns line the walkways
Then winter can't be far
From yellow leaves a blue jay calls
Grandmothers walk out in their shawls
And chipmunks run the old stone walls
When fall comes to New England
The frost is on the pumpkin
The squash is off the vine
And winter warnings race across the sky
The squirrels are on to something
And they're working overtime
The foxes blink and stare and so do I
'Cause when fall comes to New England
Oh I can't turn away
From fading light on flying wings
And late good-byes a robin sings
And then another thousand things
When fall comes to New England
When fall comes to New England
New to me and quite lovely
ReplyDeleteThanks Nan
Oh, Val, I just love Cheryl Wheeler's work. We saw her a few years ago and hope to again in 2011. In person she tells wonderful and often humorous stories to go along with her songs.
ReplyDeleteYes, I look forward to it every year. I love Cheryl's work.
ReplyDeleteOf course I LOVE THIS>
ReplyDeleteThanks dear,
Sharon
What a heart-warming song - full of nostalgia and fine description of a beautiful time of the year in a beautiful state!
ReplyDeletewhat a beautiful song! Where have I been? under a rock for a long time I guess. The words are really poetic.
ReplyDeleteNan, what a beautiful song! Thanks for sharing it with us!!
ReplyDeleteNan, that was so fun to hear -- new to me and so appropriate as we are now in Vermont and what could be more New Englandy! thanks for rerunning it (a first time showing for me as a fairly new reader).
ReplyDeleteHugs -- thanks. This great-grandmother is going walking out in my shawl now (OK, it's a sweatshirt, but close enough).
Fall in New England - one day I WILL see it. I will take a road trip through the NE-taste fresh warm apple cider, watch them tap trees for syrup, stay at a B&B.
ReplyDeleteThis is my very favorite time of year. It's nice that others share my love for it as well.
Thank you for all your posts. I know that it's tough to fit in time to blog but I'm glad you haven't retired yours just yet. :)
This is new to me also. Thank you for sharing. Fall is starting in my area also - now I would like a little rain.
ReplyDeleteNsn,
ReplyDeleteFirst, let me say how happy I am that you were persuaded to return to us, your friends in blogland. I don't comment often, but read daily and am nurtured by so many of your posts. My parents are both natives of Connecticut, and though I never had the opportunity to live in New England, I am New England to the bone. October was my mother's favorite month and we had a tradition of reading the poem October's Bright Blue Weather by Helen Hunt Jackson every year on Oct. 1. Cheryl's song brings the same sense of melancholic longing to me. Thank you for sharing it, once again. Longing for some New England Fall snap down here in Florida (how did I land here!?!) I remain your friend, MizB
Love it love it love it!!!
ReplyDeleteWhen fall comes to Oklahoma, we can all breathe again. Yippee. Beautiful song.~~Dee
ReplyDeleteLisa, I'm tickled you remembered! She is so great.
ReplyDeleteSharon, she's such a wonderful writer and singer.
Rebecca, I love all the things she lists, and my favorite line is 'Irish Setter red.' I hardly ever see Irish Setters anymore. Why is that? Maybe I should get one!
Linda, no, not at all. She isn't 'commercial' in that you won't hear her on the radio unless it is a rare independent station.
Sherri, yes, isn't it beautiful.
Sallie, why don't we wear shawls more?! So practical.
Kittie, I hope you do! Maybe an east coast move would be just the ticket for you!
Ernestine, just beginning there and here, the colors are fading.
Miz B, thank you so much for your kind words. How DID you end up there?? Did you write about it, and I missed it? I love the story about you and your mum. I feel that nostalgia listening to the song, and I live here, for heaven's sake. :<)
Hip Chick, I knew you'd love this song!
Dee, here, too. This summer was way too hot for most of us.
Nan,
ReplyDeleteI landed in Florida because my husband is an Episcopal bishop who decided to return to parish ministry and God in His humourous wisdom called us here. :) I didn't write about it as I don't have a blog. I believe you have two MizBs who comment here. I am the one who was in Kansas. Hope that clarifies.
In Kansas I had to learn to shift my eyes to all the grasses and brush in order to find fall colors as the few trees KS has tend to basically go brown, with an occasional splash of yellow. But the grasses and sumac and other brush go all sorts of reds and oranges and gold.
Florida basically stays green. Tons of live oaks draped with Spanish moss are the main trees in my area, along with palms, magnolias and crepe myrtle. Definitely not the locale for a Fall junkie. :) MizB
Miz B, thank you for writing back. I completely had you mixed up with the should be reading blogger. I didn't know there were two Miz Bs. What a big geographical change you have had!
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