Autumn….

       Autumn…this is absolutely my favourite time of year. Each season has its own appeal but Autumn, in my opinion is by far the most wonderful and special time of the year. There is something so sensually appealing about Autumn and the way it continually assaults my senses.

     The smell of Autumn is of damp soil, rotting leaves, smoke from garden fires and the intoxicating aroma of stinking hot coffee from my flask that is a staple of my gardening equipment from this time of year until the heat of late spring bans it to the cupboard once more. These scents just flare my nostrils in an attempt to drag all the wonderful aromas of this time of year through my nostrils dragging the cold tinged and crisp air as deeply as possible into my lungs.

     My visions of Autumn are of crisp and clear skies where one feels able to see for miles into distant worlds, the colours of deciduous leaves turning into a tapestry of blazing colour carpeting the ground in an all too temporary  patchwork blanket that you wish you wrap around yourself, of Cock Robin with his bright chest an ever present companion in my eyes peripheral vision, the low sun casting longer shadows through crisp air and of a fire’s dancing flames as they consume wood and branches hewn from the land.

     Autumn touches my body in different ways that are perhaps harder to describe. The textures of plants change giving them a rough feeling on my hands as they retreat into their roots for the winter that lies ahead, there is the heat from fires which is countered by the cold air seesawing as I move back and forth feeding the flames from piles of garden debris, early morning moisture makes everything feel damp and gives the air a coolness against my skin that never truly retreats in the weak Autumn sun and the increasing cold inevitable causes my aging bones to ache a tad more each season reminding my of injuries past and of my own mortality.

     Hearing is the the sense that is perhaps dulled by the onset of Autumn, fallen leaves masking the tread upon the ground, early morning mist (or more often all day mist up in these hills) dampening all sound and wrapping the world in its heavy blanket, few birds sing now but the ever present Robins still bring a smile with their shrill warnings to each other as they compete around me on freshly upturned soil and as the winds increase there is a chatter to the trees as their now bare branches sway in unison and shed their dead limbs to regenerate the soil beneath skeletal canopies. There is also a silence to the gardens as the buzz of insects dies away hopefully only to to return when the air warms again

     Ah and what of the taste of Autumn? I think that many of the scents that Autumn brings on chill winds can also be found touching my tongue, taste such as woodsmoke, the decay of vegetation and there even is a taste to the air itself. But let us be honest for the once, the taste of Autumn for me is of stinking hot coffee, sweet and black from my flask, tis of thick stews full of course cut earthy vegetables and chunky mouthfuls of tender beef or chicken, of thick and warming curries that make the tongue tingle with flavoursome heat, yep all the good heavily calorific food that make one’s arteries scream noooo but taste so good and make coming in from the cold such joy, oh and there is not only the taste of coffee to enjoy but evenings sipping hot toddies of whiskey, sugar (or honey) and boiled water for purely ahem medicinal purposes of course.

    Yes I truly enjoy the assault on my senses that Autumn brings with it, but there is an another feeling that I enjoy at this time of year, tis that of renewal, planning and expectation. I find that most people I talk to think of Autumn as a time of decay and dieback, a time to shun the outside world and hide away until lady Spring unfurls her green dress tails and renewal begins once more. But for me more than ever, Autumn is the time that renewal begins as Mother Nature lays down her foundations for the burst of Spring. There is the trees gift of nutrition from its fallen leaves, the resting of soils ready to support the next years emergence of new growth, of the planning ahead for the warmer season. For me the land is beginning to rest and renew at this time of year and it fills me with an expectation of growth and renewal. There’s also to fact that the shorter daylight hours mean that I can spend more time in my workshop plotting further, bringing more machinery back to life and sipping that stinking hot black and oh so sickly sweet coffee, tis not a bad time of year at all m’thinks.

Till the next time, take care folks,

John