Sunday 25 September 2011

Falling leaves

Since we came to this house, the first thing I've done each day is look out of the bedroom window.  From where I sit in bed, I can't see down into the garden, and there are no houses looking back at me; all I can see through the square window, is a patch of sky, framed by tall sycamore and elm trees. Whenever I've woken on a sunny morning, I've watched the branches waving and the leaves dancing in the sunlight like a happy, hippy crowd at a music festival.

It's getting darker in the mornings now, but the early gloom is brightened by pale yellow leaves that have started floating down past the window. The path is strewn with them; it's as though the party is ending and the crowds are leaving the festival to make their way home, dropping their litter as they go.


It's been four months since we moved in; we arrived in time for summer, and now we're welcoming autumn for the first time. As the weeks have passed I've seen the colours come and go - from the flowers and shrubs that were here before us and the new ones we've planted since. I've cut the grass and trimmed the hedges and watched them grow again. We've eaten lunches and dinners at at the picnic bench that came with us from Shoreham, and we've sat chatting over breakfast at the new table and chairs we bought in an end of season sale, just a couple of weeks ago.

Already there are dry leaves caught in the stems of the lavender bushes and floating across the surface of the pond; soon the grass will be covered in a russet and golden coat that I'll delight in crunching through as I walk down the garden.

Time is passing, but it doesn't feel as though the days are slipping away, more that we're building new traditions, taking old memories out of the box and examining them in a new light.

24 comments:

Nessa Locke said...

A beautiful post, Sharon. I like this line the best, "it's as though the party is ending and the crowds are leaving the festival to make their way home, dropping their litter as they go."

It almost makes me feel I should spend more time appreciating nature.

Anonymous said...

I always feel a bit sad at the end of summer. Crunchy acorns underfoot and all that. You mentioned lavender: the man who lives next door was cutting the lavender bushes in his garden this morning, and it smelt beautiful.

Lovely post.

Starlight said...

Lovely post... I am also quite sad at the end of summer, it's my favourite season and I wish it was longer.

kenju said...

I like what Nessa said - and I already spend a lot of time appreciating nature (like you.)

Hillary said...

"the grass will be covered in a russet and golden coat..." I relish words like these, because I don't get to experience such color and richness in these desert environs. I love the weather here in fall and winter; it's rarely truly cold. Still, I do miss these scenes of autumn that make you feel like having a glass of dark wine and rich stew. Thanks for bringing autumn to me, Sharon, in my mind's eye at least.

Robbie Grey said...

The last paragraph was pure poetry.

Bobby Stevenson said...

Truly scrumptious. x

The Idiot said...

Love the comment about the memories; puts me in mind of a poem from many years ago.

Always a pleasure, never a chore reading your posts.

Pat said...

Watching the seasons slip by with a loved one, in the house you love.
Who could ask for more?

Baglady said...

I adore the phrase "taking old memories out of the box and examining them in a new light". Thanks for sharing your new memories with us.

Matt Inwood said...

I deliberately waited to come back and read a second time before commenting. It seemed fitting for a post about the passing of time and about the subtle shifts in what's there in front of us. The 'memory box' closer is a very lovely note to end on, but the notes that come before are so clean and photographic. It brought to mind reading Derek Jarman's diaries: the details of his beautiful garden put to page, framed by a sense of something so much larger all around.

Sweet Lily said...

Excellent!
Well done, Sharon!

Bea said...

Here's to making new memories!

Young at Heart said...

I still get the back-to-school-feeling in September!!

Kristen said...

I love this post. It's a lovely introduction to the Fall season! Thanks for sharing :)

Kabamf said...

Great writing.
There are a lot of trees to see behind my house and every year I try to catch the point when they begin to change colour. And every year I look away for a moment and they change. They're a sly bunch those chestnut trees.

Benjamin Letourneau said...

interesting post... if you wrote this you may want to copyright it using CreativeCommons.org go to choose license, choose and follow directions

Marsha said...

Thank you for that last paragraph. It expresses so beautifully the feeling of moving forward without loosing the past.

Sharon Longworth said...

Nessa Roo - thank you. I wish I had more time to stand and stare.

Dicky - we have lavender fields all round us where we live - the colour in July is simply stunning. I wish my sense of smell could do justice the fragrance I know must be there.

Starlight - I love summer too and like nothing better than sitting in the sun; but overall I think spring is my favourite season - so much promise of things still to come.

Judy - thank you!

Hillary - you've distracted me now with thoughts of dark wine and warm stew...

Sharon Longworth said...

Robbie - that's a smashing thing to say - thank you.

Bobby - I'll await my ride in Chitty-chitty- bang-bang...

IG - now I need you to share the poem!

Pat - indeed, I know just how lucky I am.

Baglady - it's always really nice when someone quotes something they like from a post - thank you.

Sharon Longworth said...

Matt - that's a comment to savour. And Derek Jarman's garden was something else - thank you for reminding me of that.

Thank you Tame Lion!

Bea - I'll join you in that toast (and luckily I happen to have a small glass of red wine to hand...

Young-at-heart - I used to be one of those annoying kids who actually liked going back to school. I'd give anything for a long summer break now of course!

Kristen - thank you, I'm so glad you liked it.

Sharon Longworth said...

Kabamf - I love the idea of the sneaky trees waiting to catch you out. Brilliant idea.

Crimson99 - thank you.

Marsha - I'm really pleased you liked it.

Unknown said...

I know it has been said before and will be said many more times, but you have such a gift. What a way with words.

Unknown said...

Wow the descriptions here is just breathtaking. The picture of the leaves and the scene you painted was just great I truly enjoyed this post.