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“Now Autumn’s fire burns slowly along the woods and day by day the dead leaves fall and melt”.
William Allingham
Autumn (Fall) is a time to walk and to talk and to think – and to start to make plans.
It is also a time to take photos of nature’s bounty:
I thought the gentle reader might appreciate a few more glimpses of autumnal hues – before everything fades to a wintery grey for the the next three months or so. Fall is glorious, though it is the season of which I am least fond. Winter serves a purpose but unless one likes to get out to play in the snow and ice it is not one that some folk – self included – find easy to love. Still – it does eventually give way to the spring and that is a very good thing.
Good grief! Here we are – already well into November. The Halloween decorations are coming down and the over-zealous have already started on Christmas…
Time for some soothing images of autumnal colours – to demonstrate what a beautiful world this is despite what we insist on inflicting upon it:
…from a lost season (see previous post).
Whatever I personally feel about this time of year (and of the month of November in particular) there is no denying that there are some pretty images to be captured. Being a sharing kind of guy I always like to pass such things on to the gentle reader (or viewer!).
These are quite seasonal:
…and that mountain is still visible (though by no means so every day!)…
There is good, if somewhat nippy, walking to be done – in Centennial Park for instance:
“Two of us wearing raincoats
Standing solo in the sun
You and me chasing paper
Getting nowhere
On our way back home”
Lennon/MacCartney
The other day I was in Sidney, engaged upon the purchase of some comestibles. On returning to the Lexus – the which I had parked under a small tree at the far extent of the car park – I observed that a murder was in progress. A murder of crows, that is…
No sooner than I had mounted the vehicle and fired up the big V8 than one of their number flapped lazily down and took up residence on the bonnet (hood!). He looked me in the eye as a sort of challenge and let it be known that he felt disinclined to move even when I revved the engine a little. Had I not started to reverse gently out of the parking bay I think he might well just have stayed there.
Cheeky bu**er!
…random ramblings on a recent rag-bag of topics from the Pacific northwest…
First things first… ‘Tis once again the time of year to wish The Girl a very happy – if slightly belated (in real world, if not in blog-world terms) birthday! Yay! Happy B-day!
Life here on the west coast of Canada trundles along in its usual way. We are both busy and things are returning to some semblance of order now that the western world has decided that COVID is over and done with (even if it isn’t!). Secure in the knowledge that our multiple vaccine boosters and immunity from having had a dose of the lurgy make us a little more protected than we were before, we have on occasion stepped out to eat and to attend other public social events.
We even decided that it was safe enough to go back to the theatre – a least for a few months until the ‘immunity’ wears off. We had tickets for a play at The Belfry for The Girl’s birthday but the performance was cancelled at the last minute due to ‘illness’ (now, what could that be?). Our tickets have been rescheduled for this coming weekend, so let’s see how that goes.
Following the grim (as in cold and wet) spring and early summer, concerning which I posted at length earlier this year, the weather finally got its act together and we are enjoying a most pleasant Indian Summer. Temperatures remain in the 20s C and we have had no rain to speak of for several months. The garden could really do with some to be honest, but I guess it will come soon enough.
Apropos of very little, I feel that I should extend my commiserations to those who yet reside in the UK. Though I try not to comment on politics in these dark days it would not be – I believe – controversial to describe the UK political establishment since 2016 a a complete sh*tshow. However, even by such measures the new incumbents of 10 Downing Street might just prove be the worst and most dangerous yet.
Why do I care? Well – last week’s shenanigans wiped a considerable chunk off my monthly pension income as the chancellor carelessly crashed sterling and sent exchange rates plummeting (or soaring! – depends which end of the chain one is at). The subsequent recovery has been encouraging, but the knowledge that this ruling cabal’s dangerous ideology might well cause permanent damage is chilling to those of us who have no say in the matter.
In a strange Hitchcock-ian coda: yesterday I was out in the garden, underneath our deck (the which forms a sort of veranda across the whole width of the back of the house). It was impossible to miss the fact that – out in the stand of trees that border our property to the east – a huge and raucous convocation of birds had gathered. I could not actually see most of them, as the trees are tall and there is plenty of foliage. They were making sufficient noise, however, that it was impossible to ignore them. Quite startlingly so, in fact.
I took one step out from the cover of the deck and immediately the whole gathering took off. There must have been thousands of them (clearly of more than one species). Their parting darkened the skies for a moment or two and then they were gone – and a sudden and total silence descended.
Now – I wonder what this portends?
Tags: Autumn, COVID-19, Politics, The Belfry, The Girl, Theatre, Weather
Even during the wettest autumns there usually comes the occasional bright interlude. An alternative to getting out into the garden to slog one’s way through the many outstanding tasks there is to go for a nice walk instead.
To Gowlland Tod for example:
…of the year?
It is quite a responsibility – owning an expanse of lawn – and I am not at all sure that I am qualified for the job. Certainly I have discovered that I am far better at growing moss and mushrooms than I am at tending grass… and I am not sure that that is anything about which to brag.
This is a crucial time of the year for us lawn owners in the Pacific North West. If the grass is to get its best chance for next year then it must be tended correctly now. Nervous lawn guardians who lack the necessary knowledge (that would be me) naturally turn to the InterwebNet for advice and guidance.
The InterWebNet is agreed upon the following. Winter preparation involves a final close cut, clearance of leaves and other detritus, the addition of lime (almost always necessary here in the damp northwest where the firs and pines do their level best to swing the soil balance to the acid end of the spectrum) and then some slow-release fertilization to ensure that the grass has something on which to chew when it reawakens in the spring.
Most helpful – except that as soon as one tries to dig a little deeper – to get into the details – the advice becomes less certain.
When should one carry out the final cut? Some give vague guidance derived from the phases of the moon. The more down to earth say: “When the grass stops growing”. That’s all well and good in theory, but ascertaining that something is not happening is considerably more difficult than that it is. “What do you think? Has it stopped?” – “Dunno – looks like it might be about to have another spurt“.
Then there is the question of sequencing. Does one cut and clear before applying treatments? Should the liming occur before the fertilizing – or is it the other way around? Or can they be done at the same time? And if not, how long should one wait between treatments?
Apparently (according to the InterWebNet) the answer to all of these question is “Yes“… or “No“… or even “Maybe!“… Or – most helpfully of all – “It depends!“…
None of this would matter too much except that this is wet season on the west coast of Canada. It is also ‘First storms of the winter‘ season. It is also ‘The sun’s shining – better get out in the garden – what shall we do first – oh no! too late – here comes the next downpour!‘ season.
It is little wonder that some years some of this stuff simply doesn’t get done. I’m not doing too badly this year. The lawn has had two final cuts already (“I hadn’t finished!“) and been limed. Autumn fertilizer awaits – as do other important garden tasks (clearing the gutters – cleaning up the last bunch of crap that was blown out of the trees) but at the moment the rain is mounting a major offensive. Who knows when next I will get the chance to venture forth onto the estate.
I will probably keep you posted…
I found that I had too many photographs of the Fall leaves in Centennial Park in Saanichton to fit into a single post…
…so here are the rest of them.
That is one serious bunch of leaves!
Tags: Autumn, British Columbia, Fall, nature, Photo
“And all at once, summer collapsed into fall.”
Oscar Wilde
Should there be any doubts as to why Autumn is known as Fall here in North America, these images may well satisfy them.
They also provide an interesting illustration of the fact that – even when one is apparently walking through a forest predominantly comprising mixed conifers – there are always more maples present than appears to be the case at first (or even second) sight.
It feels to me as though it has been quite a long time now since even the blowsy days of August – when everything in the garden wore the appearance of having enjoyed rather too good a night out and was, in the aftermath thereof, trying just that bit too hard to convince that all was still coming up roses (see what I did there?)… Never mind looking back even further to the true highlights of the season (as far as our garden is concerned, anyway) in May, June and early July…
And as I say – even August is now but a memory…
Yet here we are – with the race to the shortest day well underway and nature – if not quite yet in full retreat – certainly considering carefully turning tail and joining the rout.
Kudos, then, to that flora still determined to see things through to the bitter end. Your loyalty is much appreciated and we thank you for yet bringing a little colour and light into our lives.
Some images, by way of illustration:
Tags: Autumn, British Columbia, garden, Photo
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