Autumn Rising
04th September 2014
Autumn
It is September and, according to the weatherman, Summer is now over. We have entered the meteorological period defined as autumn.
This announcement comes pre loaded with the prospects of cooler and darker days. These are days where a cooler sun struggles as it rises lower with each passing day. The surrounding mountains, now in shadow, start to put on an autumnal raiment of watery yellows, oranges and reds. The weatherman's observation indicates we will soon be experiencing long dark nights, where night time is greater than the daylight hours.
However, regardless of the weatherman's pronouncement, autumn had already arrived a few weeks earlier. The first sign of this change was the departure of the Swifts. Their leaving was sudden and symbolic of the shifting season. In the meantime Swallows and House Martins, though still here, have been readying themselves for their long journey south. They can be seen lined up on telephone lines, chattering to themselves. Perhaps planning their massive journey and arguing when they should eventually leave.
High up on the Fells the once green grass and bracken has, seemingly in an instance, changed to more warmer red, brown and orange colours of autumn. Down in the valleys the leafs of the Sycamore and Beach are drying and turning golden brown. It is as if an optical filter has been placed over the scene. One day verdant green and summer, the next flaming reds and ochres of autumn - in an instance.
In the last two days I have witnessed a number of large wedges of Geese flying low across the Duddon Estuary. Their 'cronking' song can be heard from afar, heralding the change of the seasonal calendar. The flight of these birds is an abstract representation of the advancing year. Their combined cries, like a portent, tell of colder, darker and lonelier days.
The change in temperature, the shortening day, the lower sun are all switches in the minds of these and other birds, as they prepare for their migration. However, as they leave we are left behind and their absence leaves a profound silence and a longing that stays with us throughout the darker months.
It is September and, according to the weatherman, Summer is now over. We have entered the meteorological period defined as autumn.
This announcement comes pre loaded with the prospects of cooler and darker days. These are days where a cooler sun struggles as it rises lower with each passing day. The surrounding mountains, now in shadow, start to put on an autumnal raiment of watery yellows, oranges and reds. The weatherman's observation indicates we will soon be experiencing long dark nights, where night time is greater than the daylight hours.
However, regardless of the weatherman's pronouncement, autumn had already arrived a few weeks earlier. The first sign of this change was the departure of the Swifts. Their leaving was sudden and symbolic of the shifting season. In the meantime Swallows and House Martins, though still here, have been readying themselves for their long journey south. They can be seen lined up on telephone lines, chattering to themselves. Perhaps planning their massive journey and arguing when they should eventually leave.
High up on the Fells the once green grass and bracken has, seemingly in an instance, changed to more warmer red, brown and orange colours of autumn. Down in the valleys the leafs of the Sycamore and Beach are drying and turning golden brown. It is as if an optical filter has been placed over the scene. One day verdant green and summer, the next flaming reds and ochres of autumn - in an instance.
In the last two days I have witnessed a number of large wedges of Geese flying low across the Duddon Estuary. Their 'cronking' song can be heard from afar, heralding the change of the seasonal calendar. The flight of these birds is an abstract representation of the advancing year. Their combined cries, like a portent, tell of colder, darker and lonelier days.
The change in temperature, the shortening day, the lower sun are all switches in the minds of these and other birds, as they prepare for their migration. However, as they leave we are left behind and their absence leaves a profound silence and a longing that stays with us throughout the darker months.