I went to the park again today. The road leading to it was magical, the trees all gold, golden leaves covering the blacktop. It was like something from a fantasy painting. Leaves were falling, again in gold. The colours this year have a startling, almost liquid clarity.
I’m a useless photographer, I can never catch light–which is what interests me most–but here a quick shot through my office window this morning. Imagine those colours blazing, which is how they should look.
The light has been remarkable all day. It just poured with rain. Now the sun is out again. The birds are quiet. The garden needs some tidying and pruning. Instead, I’m going to make a cup of tea, eat a piece of chocolate, and go tidy and prune what I have of Hild so far. I hope you’re all having a lovely Sunday.
Nicola Griffith 
I was thinking about autumn the other day as I was driving to school, specifically how amazingly gorgeous the trees appear this year. I realized as I was driving that this is the first time in almost thirty years that I either am not living in the city or I am able to get out in the middle of the day. The colors and the light have really been breathtaking and I am enjoying my daily commute immensely!
Excellent.I’m guessing that the-first-time-in-years thing helps with appreciating the colour but I think this year the colours really are different–at least here in Seattle. It’s the *clarity* that’s blowing me away.
Okay, dammit. I’m jealous of all the fall color. We do get a teeny bit here, but it’s pretty random. Fall has always been my favorite season.And tomorrow morning I’m going to my version of the park. I’ve been telling myself that every time you mention it, but tomorrow is it. I’m committed.
Tomorrow? Okay. There will be a test :)
Uh oh. Well, I knew I needed to commit. :)
I love that kind of light, the one that saturates all the colours. It’s not your fault, it’s probably the way the camera is calibrated. Did it look a little < HREF="http://shetranslates.com/photo/treefromoffic-nov08-Web.jpg" REL="nofollow">more like this?<>
Hmmmm….we’re in mid-autumn here. Spent the entire afternoon with a friend at Devil’s Lake State Park and was in ecstasy for most of it. The smell of rain in the air (despite that it only drizzled intermittently) and pine on the ground; the slickness of birch skin; the agonizing sensuality of purple quartzite piled on top of itself (even more evocative at dusk); the howl of the wind across the expanse of lake; the chill of the water (we stuck our hands in, fantasizing about having to have a reason to take off our clothes and swim for our lives to the other side! …and agreed we’re neither of us in good enough swimming-shape to manage); the sound of the trees creaking as they rub against the great rocks out of which they seem to grow. This time of year, we practically had the place to ourselves. So easy to imagine roughing it in a cave formed of rocks that fell into each other hundreds of years ago, sleeping on a bed of leaves, with our jar of Nutella and each other’s skin for warmth. What a beautiful world.
Autumn, I think, has finally left the building.The leaves have turned and fallen. Before we get a blanket of snow, we get a blanket of crackling leaves. It’s fantastic. Cold, but fantastic.Temps here are down to about -6 degrees celsius (about 21 degrees F) at night. All the animals are slowing down, including me.The folks around here (Maine) say that when the autumn colours are bright, a cold winter is coming. I’m interested to see if they’re right.(btw, great color enhancement, Karina!)
karina, nope, the leaves were much pinker and softer and kind of liquid looking. Like melting sherbet.sourgrapes, it sounds beautiful (apart from the Nutella, ptuh).janine, wow, it’s much, much warmer here. We’re still sleeping with the windows open. But in two weeks all the leaves will be gone and instead of listening to whispering trees they’ll be creaking and naked.
I truly love the light this time of year. The light filters through the trees very differently and sort of “shadow dances” through the branches. I got up just at daylight this morning,fed my patio cats, sat with a cup of coffee, enjoyed the easy breeze and this wonderful hand tuned windchime (from Austin) my brother gave me.The squirrels were also up and chattering. I’m not sure what bird was making a soft cuckoo type of sound. I keep trying to see it but all it does is dart among the leaves.I have two very large potted Plumeria with one still blossoming. The fragrance is greater at night. My Esperanza is still putting out golden flowers. It’s showy last hurrah before winter.My brother just bought 154 acres about two+ hours north of where I live and will be putting a cabin on it. I cannot wait to experience fall and winter there! I love the scent of mountain cedar burning in a fireplace!It has been enjoyable to read the descriptions of fall in other parts of “Nicolaverse.” Janine, I saw your house on your site-wonderful but brrrr!
linda, I’ve always had an atavistic greed for land, something to call Mine. Somewhere I can be utterly alone without the sound of another human being. 150 acres sounds about right…
“…150 acres sounds about right…”It is “sliver” of land carved from a 3000 acre ranch where the county cut a new road through and the rancher did not want to bother “with across the road.” It is bounded on all other sides by ranches in the 1000s of acres, so, quiet it will be. My cousin has a ranch, 2400 acres, “up the road.” I spent my summers there growing up exploring caves, horseback riding to the Pecan Bottom where we drank from a very cold natural spring, ate wild grapes, and walked the remains of a settler’s homestead…the entire life experience still exist in my molecules.
Last week I wrote a scene about Hild drinking from a spring that tasted of fern and mint, so cold and pure that “it would turn any bird that drank of it white.” How amazing to have something like that for real.