transporting sensations

another beautiful fall day. yesterday evening i was leaving the library right as the sun was setting, and it hit the white walls of penn hall so that they turned golden, setting off the vibrancy of the trees. i'd forgotten how beautiful the autumn is in gettysburg; i missed it last year when i was traveling.

it makes me think of marianne dashwood remembering the beauty of her childhood home as the autumn leaves are falling. isn't it nearly always that what we remember is so much more beautiful than when we see it anew? ah, autumn leaves...

"dear, dear norland! …with what transporting sensations have i formerly seen them fall! how have i delighted, as i walked, to see them driven in showers about me by the wind! what feelings have they, the season, the air altogether inspired!"

and yet, when caught unawares, i am still momentarily stilled by the quiet elegance of so much natural beauty around me.