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Ode to autumn
By Reina Free
Did we
not have a wonderful summer? Yes it was very very hot, and yes we have a
water ban. But was it not wonderful our farmers
had the rare opportunity to get most of the harvest in? Our farmers deserve that once in a while
things go well for them. They work so hard. I always worry about the heavy
machinery and have a ‘word’ to God that it won’t break down and that the
weather will hold.Walking along King’s Lane in July I ate my first handful of blackberries, the clusters of tightly-together berries of a hedgerow plant called lords and ladies turning already from green into orange. Also the flowers of the honeysuckle have been transformed into red berries. There is already a slight subdued atmosphere of autumn melancholy, or is it just my imagination?
In a way of response some ferns are bending low and already the mauve flowers of the fire in the wood are changing into ‘fluffy autumn cardigans’. The song of the larks is somewhat subdued, yet there are still blackbird and greenfinch nests with ‘babies’.
And, surprise, surprise, another small miracle: for the very first time I picked and enjoyed my own cherries, and there are still cherries – black and juicy – on the tree outside the Church. I wonder have the jays, blackbirds and crows become ‘fusspots’ or have they changed their tastes? I do not know.
Will there again be mushrooms to gather… the holly trees covered with berries… hazel nuts in clusters for the squirrels?
Chris Ruttle is now harvesting the wheat – the oats still to do. Please God, wait with the rain. So many blessings, so many things to be grateful for. How I wish this our wonderful world all around us would be for all people everywhere.