Y Ddraig Goch

Sept 18 - Sounds of Autumn

Prompt: "Go sit upon the hill and turn your eyes around, where waving woods and waters wild do hymn an autumn sound." Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

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There have been so many posts about Autumn recently. It’s my favourite time of year. I like the sounds of the season. The leaves rustling or crunching underfoot. The rain coming down and hitting the roof tiles and tin sheds like a drum solo. It soothing and calming. It’s as familiar as the smell of bonfires and sips of hot chocolate that accompany it.

I’m jealous that the Northern Hemisphere is about to experience it. Here, we are coming into Spring. It’s already starting to warm up significantly. It’s 20C today. Tomorrow will be 23C. It’s the start of the long stretch to Summer. A summer where we have Halloween, Christmas, and New Year; all of which, traditionally, were cold season events. It feels wrong to have them in the Summer. I’m not used to it. It’s been six years, and nope… I still struggle with it. Maybe I always will.

That being said “waving woods and wild waters” are not just an Autumn thing.

Where I live, the wind comes off the sea. It can be harsh. It can be biting. We have a severe weather warning in place for tonight and tomorrow with high winds expected. A few days ago a tree branch (fairly chunky at 10 inches in diameter) broke and fell into our front garden. I have no idea why they insist on planting eucalyptus trees in a windy area, the branches are always dropping and causing damage. After the winds there is usually something odd floating passed on the lake as well. We’ve had a canoe wash up, a gym ball, a patio cushion… The waves are crazy. I’m always amazed to see the swans and other water birds floating out on the water; they never seem to move – they are like little anchored bo