The Seasons Turn

I've encountered many a blog, and online chatter about the change of season.  People seem to have noticed it more this year, and I must admit I am one.   I'm including a few - I feel appropriate - snippets of what I've seen today.

May the rains sweep gentle across your fields,
May the sun warm the land,
May every good seed you have planted bear fruit,
And late summer find you standing in fields of plenty.

Source:  Island Ireland.

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Autumn's Arrival
by Starlight the Fox 

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Her breath mists the twilit air, frost and pearl, as she mounts her horse, a steel grey beast of taut muscle and lean limbs, built for speed.


Pulling the collar of her cloak around her, she gazes out at the surrounding landscape. She owns it all, in a way which will never be written on parchment, never be lodged in the minds of men.

In the Realm of the Lady Winter ~ Ina.

And a tempest cleared the path

I don't know about anyone else, but for me in the south-east of the country, the winds and driving rain that appeared earlier in the week appear to mark the first signs of Autumn.

At first, I thought summer had gone, but driving out today, I noticed the grassed areas scattered with lights of yellow as various flowers seemed to bloom.   Aside from which, a lovely set of taller-than-a-man sunflowers graced the yard of a terraced house along the A13, and there were dark red roses in bloom along one particular drive near to home.   Summer is just holding on it seems, but those gales did their best to clear the way for Autumn's arrival. 

For me the cool, crisp air of the nights over the last few weeks have been a signal of Summer's End, but this week as some of the leaves start to change colour, and this change in atmosphere combined with the recent storms have been akin to a flashing billboard with the announcement Autumn isn't coming; it's here.

Many bloggers I follow have already been harvesting mushrooms and have been since the beginning of August; our yew tree has already displayed its first crop of berries.  All the signs of Autumn appear to have started early, long before summer's blooms have finished their display.

So, with the last vestiges of summer being blown away with the winds and driving rain, I, too, will undertake my annual Autumnal clear out.  Anything not used in the last year, or that will not be used in the next year will be recycled, either through freegle, charity or sale.   My home will be reorganised and made comfortable for the coming cold months.   My short-term plans will be assessed and adjusted accordingly, including my reading.   In other words, I plan to have a stock-take and clear-out of my life and this will include all aspects of my spiritual life.

It will take some time, as I cannot work as quickly, or as quirkily as a gale force wind.

Autumn

From "The Guesting of Aithirne"


A good tranquil season is autumn,
there is occupation then for everyone
throughout the very short days.

Dappled fawns from the sides of the hinds,
the red stalks of the bracken shelter them;
stags run from the mounds
at the belling of the deer herd.

Sweet acorns in the high woods,
corn-stalks about cornfields
over the expanse of the brown earth.

Prickly thorn bushes of the bramble
by the midst of the ruined court;
the hard ground is covered with heavy fruit.
Hazelnuts of good crop fall
from the huge old trees of mounds.


~ translation by Kenneth Jackson