Autumn an ‘exhilarating’ time of year - Viki Mather

Here we are – deeply entrenched in the heart of autumn. The winds have blown from all directions in the past few weeks. What used to be a golden canopy is now a soft yellow carpet of leaves.

Autumn has fallen.
When we are lucky enough to get a few warm days, I rejoice in the beauties of this changing season. After the biting cold of wind and rain, a sunny day of 10 C feels downright balmy.

Though most of the leaves have fallen, there’s lots to look at in the forest. A few leaves still cling to the twigs, and some things I’ve never noticed much now stand out from the rest.

The long, wide and pointed leaves of the wild raisin bush flutter one by one to the ground. Oak leaves hang on tightly. Their auburn leaves slowly fade to brown. Only the bitter blizzards of January will be able to tear them from the trees. 

Autumn is the most difficult time of the year. With the end of Daylight Savings Time, “night” will suddenly drop in on us in the middle of the afternoon. Long, luxurious days of summer are still in the back of my mind. It just doesn’t seem fair that we should have to turn on the lights before 6 p.m. It wasn’t all that long ago that we were still playing in the sun at 8 p.m.

Autumn can be an exhilarating time of year – but you have to really work at it. You have to look beyond the damp, dreary grey skies, and beyond the drizzle in the air and sodden leaves on the ground.

All the plants and animals of nature spent the last few months preparing for winter. Bears have put on their layer of fat, squirrels have piled up a store of pine cones. Snowshoe hares are slipping out of their summer brown and into their winter white coats.

But it is the plants that have been making the most fascinating changes. The delicate perennials have died right back to the ground. They have put up supplies of starch an nutrients in their roots to get them off to a quick start after the spring thaw.

The trees and shrubs have been busy with their preparations too. Take a close look at any living tree. It may have lost its leaves weeks ago, or they may still be holding on. Look at the tiny buds that have formed where the leaf used to be.

Very carefully open this bud to see what is inside. Find a different tree or shrub, and look into its buds. I’m not going to tell you what will be found there – you will have to look for yourself. You may be surprised!

Although it looks a bit drab with all the leaves now piled up on the ground, there are some great things to look at all around. For one thing, the whole forest is now opened up to view. We can see well beyond the edges of the path, deep into the heart of the forest. It is a lovely sight indeed.

Viki Mather has been writing for Northern Life since the spring of 1984. During 2011, she takes us back to some of those older writings as she prepares to publish a book of “In the Bush.” This one was originally published in October of 1990.

Posted by Vivian Scinto