Autumn is the season of transition. Winter can "melt into spring," songwriters tell us, and with increasing frequency here in the Blue Ridge foothills, spring can suddenly reach into the peak of a summer's heat.

   Autumn, however, is Nature's way of saying, "Pause, drink in my beauty." As the sky becomes wider, we become the colors of the sunset, absorbing the changing designs of the clouds. We observe the day's softening light as dusk brings a sudden change in the temperature. At what other time of the year do colors become a deepening purple as the sun retreats and day gives way to evening?

   The arrangements on this page were created for the
Airlie Conference Center this fall.