Ode to Autumn
Autumn foliage is almost everyone’s favourite thing about this time of year; we’re particularly lucky in the UK to see incredible changes in the local flora. Before deciduous trees shed their leaves for winter, they give us an incredible display of colour and light. Green leaves give way to the deepest golden shades, browns, reds, yellows and pinks in every hue to herald the changing season. Some leaves gradually turn into silvery skeletons, while others drop, creating deep banks of fallen leaves to crinkle underfoot as we wade through them (or even kick them in the air of no one is looking).
When the leaves are changing colour, the conkers are ripening – horse chestnut trees drop their spiky fruit which cracks open on the ground to reveal the shiny brown patterns of the seed inside. Collecting conkers is a classic autumn pastime and a great way to get some crisp fresh air with your family. Even if you don’t go in for the traditional conker fights – putting holes through conkers, attaching strings and doing battle – you could see who can find the biggest one and the smallest one. Sometimes a shell will reveal a single huge conker, sometimes they’re more like twins or a few smaller ones, flattened to allow each other room to grow.
Cooler weather means a change in the way we eat. It’s not really picnic season any more – although a flask of hot chocolate on a long walk on a chilly autumnal day can be a fine thing. It’s time for warming food, hot soups and dahls, and comfort foods. It’s also a great time for fresh harvested crops, so it’s the best time of year for shopping locally and eating fresh seasonal produce. The end of summer into autumn sees fresh, available root vegetables like parsnips, potatoes, beetroot and carrots. Dark green leafy vegetables like cabbages, kale and broccoli are in season, and some beans and other legumes are harvested. Autumn is a time for eating seasonal, healthy vegetables cooked into warming dishes, and for hunting for blackberries in hedgerows.
Autumn is the season for getting comfy. Hedgehogs, dormice and squirrels settle down for the start of their hibernation or winter torpor, and we humans also feel the tug of the snug. Darker evenings and cooler weather bring the family indoors to share warming meals. Warm jumpers, boots and winter coats come out of the cupboard, and cool summer clothes go into storage. We light fires or crank up the heating and enjoy soft furnishings.
Autumn passes quickly; it is a liminal season, a time of change between the languid days of summer and the long, sometimes too long, frosty days of winter. The changing seasons, crisp air, low temperatures and light levels trigger natural changes in the way we feel and even the way we behave. Make sure you enjoy the autumn, as it is never quite long enough.