The Unexpectedness of Autumn
Every year, autumn arrives exactly when it's supposed to. Oscar Wilde says it so well: And all at once, summer collapsed into fall. The equinox marks its entrance with astronomical precision, the earth tilts just a little and suddenly, we have to accept that summer has ended! And every year, it catches me off guard! I still want the early mornings to be light, to wake up with bird song, and yet, there is a gentle change in the air!
What is this change for you? For me this year it was a sudden understanding that sitting outside on the veranda will require a layer or two as our veranda is shaded and we only get a glimpse of sun! No more leisurely mid-morning cups of teas, or lunch or even dinner outside! And looking out over the garden, I suddenly notice that there are more yellow and red leaves than bright green leaves!
(Inspired by an image seen on Pinterest)
The unexpectedness of autumn isn't really about surprise, it’s it's about recognition. It's the moment you notice the tree outside your window has been quietly transforming, the leaves now red! Like a secret that they have been planning for a while! It's realizing that twilight, that time of “not light, and not dark”, now at 6 pm is not a mistake. And it’s about moving all the brightly coloured summer clothes to the back of the cupboard where they will be hibernating for a few months!
The unexpectedness of autumn isn't really about surprise, it’s it's about recognition. It's the moment you notice the tree outside your window has been quietly transforming, the leaves now red! Like a secret that they have been planning for a while! It's realizing that twilight, that time of “not light, and not dark”, now at 6 pm is not a mistake. And it’s about moving all the brightly coloured summer clothes to the back of the cupboard where they will be hibernating for a few months!
Autumn brings a melancholy with it! Another season done, one more on the calendar ticked, a few months older! Time moves on, where we’re ready or not. But autumn brings something else, a cosiness of lit candles, curling up under a blanket to read a book, pumpkin soup, opening the curtains and watching the world continue at a frantic space outside on the street! And, of course, the inspiration to paint, because autumn’s palette is unlike any other. Albert Camus rightly said Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.
Autumn doesn't ask if you're ready. It simply begins, and in its unexpectedness, offers us the gift of paying attention—to the shorter days, the longer shadows, the season we somehow always forget is coming until it's already here.