Leaf Change – Autumnal colours - goodbye ...

The deciduous Oak

Deciduous trees are the ones that give us this magnificent array of colours, whose spell we all fall under in the Autumn ... the evergreens remind us beneath the snow and ice, or just bare earth with brown stemmed plants, that new shoots of spring will push through in timely fashion as the new year brightens our view.


The falling leaves are the ones we scrunch, that emanate that sensuous nutty smell as we wander through the mists of mellow fruitfulness that arise at this time of year heralding winter’s approach.

In the beech wood

As the green leaf dies off the essential chemical components are taken up by the trunk to be stored for the coming of spring - the leaf pigment loses its chlorophyll (green) ...

... the oranges comes next (carotene), and the yellower xanthophylls.

... it is the anthocyanins that are responsible for the glorious rusty colours in the foliage that we see as Autumn progresses.

 A layer of cork forms to block the leaf channel, the leaf comes loose and falls to the ground ... our scrunch.

All the colours of Autumn rainbow will be seen at different times in the northern hemisphere ... the American Fall, our Indian Summer ... the swathes of mottled greens, bright oranges, golden yellows, russety reds, ruby rouges, glossy browns ...

Acer leaves in snow

... will along with rich rosy hips, bright cherry berries, the dark blush of blackberries, damsons, sloes, the scarlet of holly  - all of which offer delight to man and beast alike ...

A time of plenty as Harvest arrives – we remember those times past, when the year was geared to the seasons, when care and husbandry of the people and their lands was essential to life.

Pollarded trees in Epping Forest

As I travel to Cornwall for my mother’s memorial I shall remember happy autumn days – our recent holiday in Wales, those crackly walks through the golden spectrums with the clear blue skies above, and the sun sparkling through those drooping leaves ...

My mother had that caring knowledge of the land, the ability to make sure in our childhood most of our food came from the garden through planting carefully, plucking those ripe vegetables and fruits, harvesting the excess for winter days ... and in doing so gave us that love too.

Black Bute Blackberry

It is appropriate perhaps she died at a time when the fullness of summer was with us and now we can celebrate her life at harvest time ... before the dreariness of winter sets in, but when we will have time to remember all the happy times as we rest by the log fires when those memories of times long gone will come flooding back ... 

... the cork is being readied ... autumn leaves are dropping ... the harvest will be readied ... winter provisioning prepared ... then as always in life – spring will burst through once again ... and we can pop a cork or two of  champagne for a celebratory drink to the wonders of mothers, we, in particular, to our mother.

As you will have gathered I shall be gone for just over a week – travelling happily along the autumnal motorways of England – with some tiny lane driving in between ... main roads to get there – diagonally up to the Welsh Marches, to the market town of Leominster.

An array of autumn
leaves

There I will collect Jenny, Emily Hobhouse’s niece, who has come over from Vancouver Island to be at her cousin’s memorial service.  We’ll beat the motorways into the west of Cornwall ... and then if there’s time and the inclination – we shall wander a few Cornish lanes.  It is Jenny’s homeland too ...

The evergreen pine

The closing off of a life – well remembered, much loved and almost certainly not forgotten for many a year ... 

... then the dormancy and remembrances through the darkening days ... before the world turns once again, 2013 arrives, spring starts to push forth giving us renewal and new opportunities as we move on.

Emily Hobhouse and Oxford – part 1

Emily Hobhouse and Oxford – part 2

Our holiday to Wales – Provender Hedgerows with Autumn Colour

Have very happy weeks and see you in (early) mid October .....

Hilary Melton-Butcher

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