Autumn is here and I can feel a unique surge of joy that no other season can quite match. I’m starting to think it may just be my favourite time of year. But I certainly haven’t always felt this way.
Until I started to really experience nature deeply through my senses, Autumn just felt like a slippery slide towards the dark and gloomy days of Winter. I used to be filled with a sense of dread as the days closed in and I anticipated months of grey drizzle and Lemsips! All the joy for me was in the long sun-filled days of Summer.
So now I feel like I’ve gained a season. In fact I’ve gained two. As it turns out, Winter has a little more to offer than my dank miserable image of it too. And to be honest I probably didn’t really notice Spring or Summer either before. I had ideas about them. My mind had a lot to say when I thought about them but seeing nature through the filter of the mind is completely different from the physical experience of it moment by moment. So waking up to the magic of Autumn felt a bit like discovering another world. And I’m still discovering it.
The bright clear Autumnal light and deep blue skies instantly lift my spirits. Leaves glow in one final burst of life before the still sleepiness of Winter settles on the earth.
And the berries have taken my breath away this Autumn. Hawthorn, sloes, elderberries, rosehips and blackberries lie like jewels in the hedgerows. An absolute feast for the eyes. And the mouth (well some of them anyway).
In Autumn, every sense is treated. Dewey spider webs twinkle in the sunlight and golden leaves crunch and crackle as you walk. Geese honk overhead as they fly back for Winter in their perfect V formations. Noses twitch at the sweet earthy smell of apples, moss and woodsmoke. The crisp Autumnal air cools and freshens your cheeks and lungs and sweet juicy blackberries tempt your tastebuds from hedgerows.
Everywhere you look there’s an invitation to open up your senses and be absorbed by your surroundings. So if you want to start experiencing nature deeply, moment by moment, this is the season to give it a go.
I will end this post with a lovely quote from George Elliot which makes me smile. If I were a bird, I might just be tempted to do the same.
‘Delicious Autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive Autumns.’