Fall Song

 

photo taken from a yoga photo shoot 2002

 

I just got back from my restorative yoga class. It was a great way to wrap up the Thanksgiving weekend and get ready for the new week. It is 2 days before the last month of the year . It will be 2011 before we know it. My yoga teacher, Vicki, shared the Fall Song in class. It was so appropriate for the moment, I felt compelled to share it here.                                  

                                

Fall Song

Another year gone,

 

leaving everywhere its rich spiced residues 

 vines

leaves

 the uneaten fruits crumbling damply

in the shadows, 

 unmattering back from the particular island

of this summer, this NOW, 

that now is nowhere except underfoot, 

 moldering in that black subterranean castle

of unobservable mysteries---

roots and sealed seeds

and the wanderings of water. 

 

This I try to remember when time's measure painfully chafes, 

for instance when autumn flares out at the last, 

boisterous and like us longing  to stay ---

 how everything lives, shifting from one bright vision to another, 

forever in these momentary pastures.

* personal photos of Central Park taken from Jumeirah Essex House, 2008

* personal photos of The Homestead-Hot Springs, Virginia, 2008

Fall is my favorite season next to Spring and I usually take a trip to New York to see friends and get my museum fix with the new exhibits. I didn't make it earlier this time but will be there in 2 weeks. Below is a photo with one of my best friends, Stephen Aznar.

 

 A gourmand and sommelier, he has left the city and moved back to Cebu to open Cafe Elysa in the historic neighborhood of Parian.

I miss our fall foodie ritual but I look forward to sharing a meal with him soon enough. We used to stop at Sherry Lehmann and he picks a variety of wines  at different price points but now he sends them via email.

 photo taken from Alsace, 2007

I deleted the recent email by mistake but here are  some I've served and can remember: Chateauneuf-du-Pape from Domaine du Vieux Lazaret at $23.95 per bottle.  Lafite Reserve Speciale (Medoc) 2003 for just $17. The Louis Bouillot Cremant de Bourgogne Rose at $14.99 is pretty fantastic. Sherry Lehmann ships anywhere too.

Trite it may seem---

just as some people await Beaujolais Nouveau, 

I look forward to the first day of Fall to open my
La Mer moisturizer.

It has served me well over the years. I started using it in 2002 around the time when this photo was taken for Zee Magazine's Style Issue. I dabbed it all year round for 3 years but stopped (esp. during hotter months in the tropics) when I started dating an avid fisherman  and stayed out in the sun a lot. 

*click to enlarge*

Upon moving to the US, it stayed as my Fall/Winter ritual and I use a lighter moisturizer w/ SPF (rotate different brands)  during Spring/Summer. Many people ask if it's worth the money and what the hoopla is all about. If you are interested to try this so called miracle cream, please ask for a sample and test it first. It's different for everyone. I've used the whole range and was told I didn't need to so now I just use the creme,  the eye cream, and recently the lip balm. It is amazing and would make an affordable luxe holiday gift. The regenerating serum works well for sun spots which my friend can attest to. Here's hoping my face will be holiday ready!

click photo to read article which ties in with 

yoga and yesterday's antique shopping post.