I went for an unusually long walk this afternoon, and the
changes suddenly hit me. Some of the leaves are turning yellow now, the
hawthorn berries are nearly red, and the swaying trees are no longer
whispering, but rattling. I also noticed that neither the horse chestnuts in Church Lane nor the
sweet chestnut at the top of Lid
Lane had any fruit. Must be due to the cold
spring, I suppose. No conkers for the kids this year, nor chestnuts roasting on
an autumn fire.
Soon be time to get the chimney swept and the first batch of
coal in. And then I’ll need a new novel or two for the fireside. I’ll miss my
friends the trees when they go to sleep, and the lane at twilight never seems
the same without the bats.
8 comments:
I'm so looking forward to the autumn changes here. Yesterday was so hot and today is hot, too, but there is a little vibe of fall in the air... its my most favorite time of year.
Have you still not read Jane Eyre? If not that would be a good one to read by the fireside. Every autumn i also like to read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle, but those are short stories though.
I've always found that August is the month for the first autumn vibe.
I still haven't read Jane Eyre, no, and I believe I should. For one thing, I want to compare it with Rebecca.
There's a new checkout girl at the supermarket called Rebecca. She's pretty, and sweet, and cute, and naive. She looks a bit like you, actually, but I bet she's sweeter, cuter and more naive, you being thirty and Appalachian, and all. Ha ha.
Well, i suppose August would be... chronilogically anyway.
I've never read Rebecca.
And i'm sure she is, too, but i dare say that even with me being Appalachian, i'm sure I have better teeth, she being British and all. :P
But at least our eyes both point in the same direction!
Conkers? I'm envious of other places who get real seasons and where you live Autumn sounds like my kind of place. I guess that's what I get for living in So. Cal. Just wish we could trade places for a while. The wind is incredibly hot, the trees are brown (no sign of color changes yet) and the Summer people here are cranky like me.
Conkers are the fruit of the horse chestnut tree. They're about 1-1.5" across and vary slightly in hardness. Kids drill holes in them and attach them to pieces of string, then use them to have conker fights. One person holds his conker out and the other person has three attempts to try and smash it with his own conker. The players alternate until one conker is smashed and that player is the loser. An individual conker becomes celebrated when it's won six fights, and is then known as a sixer.
Must admit, I am glad I live in a temperate climate. I wouldn't like anywhere that was particularly hot or particularly cold. And the changing of the seasons is a rich experience, even though they've been getting a bit screwed up in recent years. Have you thought of going north to Washington?
I know I complain a lot, but Washington is too gray for me. I guess I'll just have to accept the weather and rejoice when it rains. Thanks for sharing about the conkers. I would have probably loved them as a child.
Playing conkers can be hazardous to the fingers. Sometimes the other person gets his aim wrong!
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