1st of Autumn

It’s easy for people to believe the seasons begin on certain dates – that fits nicely with the calendar (whatever calendar it is you use). Generally speaking though, nature has it’s own calendar – every changing, different from one year to the next.

That’s the reason some years one crop will have a good yeild and the next it won’t – it’s not all down to sowing dates and location. It’s the reason people complain about a bad summer (meaning too wet) or a bad winter (also meaning too wet and usually not cold enough).

But for me, each season has it’s own feel – unquantifyable elements that can be detected by our senses, but probably not by scientific equipment. A certain smell, the feel of the air on your skin, the way your tea tastes (especially noticable if drunk outside). Daft I know, but true.

The most noticable of those changes is Autumn (although Spring has a definate….). Today, for me, is the first day of Autumn. The smell – probably made up of enough decaying fungi and the first fallen leaves – is heavy in the cold, damp air. There’s a heavy dew and a very pronounced chill that takes a while to shake off. The shadows are long and the morning light’s taken on a golden hue.

This is Autumn and it feels good – kind of cosy. Time to start hoarding for winter.

And the result?

The plastic challenge I talked about last has now come to an end. The conclusion can be read here.

It’s a real mixed bag for me. In some ways it appears she can’t be bothered with the extra effort required. And why was she doing it? Because it’s trendy to be green? Because the BBC was likely to buy that kind of article from her? Maybe, judging by her comments.

It does however highlight an issue that I’ve ranted about before – sustainability. I’m a big fan of the “softly, softly” approach – a little and often. If you try and do it all at once you’re setting yourself up for a fall. However, if you change a couple of things – take your own bags shopping, don’t overpackage stuff when you don’t need to (do bananas really need to go in a bag of their own?), use your own mug at work – it can make a difference and in the long run, you’re more likely to succeed, thus it’s sustainable.