Thoughts As Autumn Sets In
This time of year is one of my favourites, the transition between summer and autumn. Everything is beginning to slow and starting the long wind down to sleep through the winter months and cold. The Canada geese migrate over my house and their calls, as they fly overhead in their characteristic V, is a signal that autumn is coming to me. Summer has passed and the nights are closing in, the mornings are getting chillier and I’m actually happy to dig out my woolly jumpers and thick socks again. To welcome the slower, quieter days.
The summer can get a little overwhelming where I live, and it’s almost like being able to breathe deep again when the rush of the holidays has passed. Everything is getting back into a quieter rhythm and work has slowed after the stressful drought this summer. Plants now put their energy into growing seed and fruits and leaves begin to senesce. Animals turn to getting ready for hibernation, building up their stocks to hopefully see them through the winter months. As animals begin to hibernate, I too look forward to wrapping up in blankets and warming my fingers around steaming mugs of tea. Listening to the rain and wind outside while sitting by the fire.
You can see more photos from this season in my September photojournal
I have had a very busy autumn so far, Brochan and I are re-converting our campervan for a trip this winter, as well as trying to keep on top of this blog and make videos documenting our conversion. All that in between two jobs and catching flu and I’ve found I’ve barely had time to walk apart from taking Floss out for daily exercise. It’s mad how fast time seems to go these days, we’re already nearly at the end of October and only weeks from Christmas, I feel we’ve barely left the summer behind!
But although I’ve struggled to find time for longer adventures and walks, it has made me value the smaller things again. I sometimes find when taking pictures, especially when uploading them to platforms like Instagram, that I can get caught up in trying to find more dramatic views to create more Instagram worthy photos. But having to stop for a while, just going on short walks, has made me look more closely around me. And it has been magical.
October is so full of beautiful colours; ripening berries, turning leaves. Transitions from the lush, green abundance of summer to the earthy and fiery tones of autumn. Some things still clinging onto last season; keeping hold of their green foliage and even mustering up some final blooms, while others embrace the change readily; quickly turning their colours and bearing bright fruits. When we’re moving so fast and trying to get to the best view, we miss all these small wonders. Sometimes when you look closely, the small world looks like what we know as landscapes - gathered moss become forests of trees and small lichen covered rocks become vast mountains. I suppose they are already seen like this by all the tiny insects that live in them, but it’s interesting to change our perspectives sometimes.
Another change I look forward to is amongst the woods. I am not a mushroom hunter for food but looking out for these little fungi is almost like a treasure hunt. I’ve spent a number of days slowly walking the woods, peering at the shaded floor to to see bright little fungi pushing up through the leaf litter like lights in the gloaming.
We had the most beautiful mist this October, a thick white blanket hanging over the land. It was on a day that I had had to call in sick to work, I was so frustrated because I couldn’t drive up the mountains to see mist carpeting the valleys. But I decided to take my camera out and just have a look at the mist closer to home. And I saw some incredible sights, they may not be dramatic, or vast mountains with cloud inversions but they were just as beautiful. Tiny droplets of water hung on everything and the white backdrop made the scene feel like a fairytale. I stayed out for too long, until my fingers began to go slightly numb in the chill, then returned to make a steaming cup of coffee and write in the warmth of my home.
