Driving (well, someone else drove, but never mind) from Devon this afternoon, I was gushing about the gorgeous autumnal colours. Whilst I am an unqualified hot weather fiend, as old age approaches I am finding that I have an increasing liking for the seasons. For a good few years, I had come to accept a complete untruth, which is that we don’t have seasons anymore; everything blends into one. That’s only true if you are not paying attention.
Of course, there are seasons. It’s just that they are not confined to exact dates. We know, for example, that winter does not arrive in the meteorological sense until 1 December. That does not mean that the weeks and months before 1 December will be one long Indian summer (I wish). Things don’t work that way. Weather patterns are affected by many things. A calendar is not one of them.
I can honestly say that until the last few years, I had paid little attention to autumn, which I saw as part of winter and a necessary staging post on the way to spring. I still do, I think, but I can now see more to it.
The colours of the leave on the trees have astounded me. They are beyond beautiful. I’d go much, much further and say that the colours have been breathtaking and even moving. How our little world changes colour day by day. In a few short weeks, the colours will be gone, as trees lose their leaves altogether. Autumn is a special time.
Friends have said for years that autumn is the best time of the year. I am beginning to see where they are coming from. It’s not just nature, it’s everything else. It’s heading to a lovely market, as we did last week when we went to Wells. It’s visiting a warm pub with a blazing fire, drinking classic English ales. It’s snuggling down in a warm bed with the cold air just outside the bedroom window. It’s being with friends and family, walking through woods. It’s being where you are supposed to be.
I’m a bit in awe of nature after what I saw today. England never looked better. We might be in a Brexit crisis of our own making, but for now there are few better places to be.
