Finding Fall Invitation

This week the weather turned over a new leaf and I found myself falling into autumn along with the rest of the world. I woke one day to fluctuating temperatures and a fall-like vision. A couple dozen leaves were scattered along the roof of my family room extension and a branch of bittersweet peeked out from a tree to the left. As if they were reaching out to the sky, the orange berries brought my attention to a smattering of fall leaves in another tree. These signals challenged me to notice the changes that prompted summer to fade into fall this week. Stanley Kunitz explains his feelings in the poem, End of Summer. 

An agitation of the air,
A perturbation of the light
Admonished me the unloved year
Would turn on its hinge that night.

You can read the rest of the poem that is at the Poetry Foundation here. 

My thoughts about the passage of time are expressed in the digitalized inspiration of fading hues below. I linger in the thoughts of an Indian Summer. 

Although I savor this past summer’s sun-drenched moments, I recognize that time marches on and seasons change. With the crunch of acorns under my feet, I am ready to capture the essence of autumn’s seasonal brilliancy in a new version of the Finding Fall Gallery. Because I believe in the power of voice to express diverse perspectives about life and learning, I invite poets, writers, bloggers, educators, students, family, friends, and connected colleagues to let the colors of the season stir your passion to create. 

Let the writing begin for the newest version of Finding Fall seasonal gallery of artistic expressions, Autumn’s Palette. It is my hope that this gallery will create a digital explosion of inspiration across the globe that highlights the integration of the arts and technology with literacy.

This invitation continues my Reflect With Me writing journey that has now broadened to reach global audiences.  

Below are the steps needed to engage in the this creative writing challenge for the newest version of the Finding Fall Gallery, Autumn's Palette:

• As you find fall in your locale, capture the image on your iPhone, SmartPhone, or with your camera to showcase the brilliance of the season
• If you prefer, you can find a free image of the season from morguefile.com or pixabay.com
• Let the photo inspire you to write an original poem or poetic expression describing your emotions, thoughts, feelings about the scene
• Be as creative as you like when finalizing your artistic expression (As you see in the first example above I combined text and imagery to create a "digital inspiration" using PicMonkey. You can also use Canva or other photo-editing tools.)
• You can also create a short video with a poem using video-making platforms like iMovie or Animoto or an audio reading of your poem/photo combination
• Refer to the following online galleries, Summer Splashings or Finding Fall, for sparks of inspiration before you begin the process of creating an expression that integrates the arts, technology, and literacy 
• Send your completed digital inspiration to my email address with the subject heading Autumn's Palette (If you are unsure how to merge a photo and a poem, please contact me.)
• Follow my tweets about the gallery news at #FindingFall or @cvarsalona
• Teachers, please inspire your students to take part in this creative project to develop their voice (Teachers who submit a digital inspiration can send in 1-2 offerings from their students or your class for review.)

Enjoy the experience of finding fall's colors of the season.

Carol

Each Friday, different members of the Poetry Friday community open their sites to host the Poetry Friday Round-Up. Please visit Sylvia Vardell's site, Poetry for Children, where Janet Wong is hosting. See the array of this week's offerings.