365 Days, Day 143

Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile (William Cullen Bryant)

Winter is an etching, spring a watercolour, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all (Stanley Horowitz)

Autumn's the mellow time (William Allingham)

Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn (Elizabeth Lawrence)

Chris has always delighted in the change of seasons here in the UK. When I visited her in Hitchin, in Spring, she took me on a walk and pointed out all the flowers, many of which were new to me. She commented that here each season is clearly recognisable, unlike in South Africa, where the seasons just tend to melt into one another. I did not really comprehend this until we moved here.

We are in the midst of Autumn. The days are much shorter and it gets light later in the morning, the birds also have a sleep-in. The leaves on the trees have change dto the warm yellows, reds, oranges and browns. Maybe it’s because we have a forest at our doorstep with numerous vast trees that it is so noticeable. Yesterday during the Lily-walk, squelching our way through the mud, I looked around and “watched” Autumn. In places the ground was thickly carpeted with fallen leaves which were a soft covering for the slippery mud. As leaves fell onto the ground and onto my face*, I felt at peace. Thank you, Universe, for showing me why I am here. I suddenly felt I wanted to show and share with my friends and family, the beauty from the outside which is softening me as a person. But, I only had Lilly to talk to…

So while there is a softness to me, there is a pervading sadness too. The Autumn years of my life are rather lonely. Adaptability involves sacrifice…

[I wrote this blog knowing I would go into the forest and take some Autumn photos today. So off I went with camera dangling around my neck and Lily in tow – I seemed to have to drag her quite a bit today… I took two photos and then my camera’s battery died. So I went to Plan B (always good to have one of those up your sleeve) – I collected some Autumn leaves and photographed them at home. I only noticed the teeny slug on the leaf when I looked at the photo!]

* How exquisite to have Mother Nature kiss your cheek with a soft little sweep of a leaf: a precious moment. Thank you Gaia.