How To Think About What Autum Means To You
Here’s what it means to me
How beautiful the trees grow old, how full of light and color are their last days
John Burroughs
Sitting by the window this morning with beautiful sunshine coming in, I am studying the tree just outside. It’s a funny tree, it produces one apple each year. This year the apple shriveled up and died during the hot weather.
Now, it’s leaves are turning yellow, and in the sunlight it looks glorious, all yellow and green and beautiful. But I know the leaves will soon drop and tree will become brown just like all the other trees around the house and which I can see from every window.
Why trees are so important in my life
I’m sure there are many of us to whom trees are important. They are essential to maintain life and our planet for sure. For me, trees are the most beautiful things and must be preserved at all costs. The clearance of the habitat of orangutans, to take one example, disgusts me.
The thing is that trees give me a sense of calm and peace. In the Summer when I can be in the garden, if I look up at the trees and see the tops waving against the blue sky, something flips in my chest, and I feel a sense of peace come over me.
Then, as the colours turn to the beautiful Autumn hues of red, yellow and orange, still they have the same effect but tinged with sadness, as I know they will soon be gone.
In Winter, there is no green only brown wood. The occasional evergreen conifer is to be seen, but no majestic taller trees that are anything but brown. Don’t get me wrong, there is beauty in every season, a holly tree covered in berries is stunning.
In the New Year which we all start with hope still the trees remain brown and lifeless, and I am counting the days till buds and shoots start to appear and the cycle begins again. Autumn is a big part of that cycle, and a beautiful season, always tinged with a little sadness.
In these uncertain times of the pandemic, nobody knows what the future holds. But there is one constant in our lives. Nature and Trees.
Keep safe and be kind to yourself and others.
