This is what it's all about
Petals have fallen, stamens have withered. It’s all over we say as everything slowly slides into chromatic monotony. Much ado about nothing. Wait. Nothing? Well, no, not really. Actually this is exactly what it was all about. All that photosynthesising, all those flashy colours, floral flattery. Come here pretty pollinator… just for you, a gift of nectar, a nibble of a fragrant flower. And in return, could you just do me a favour… a few grains of pollen, from here to there?
So this is where it all ends up, all that effort, all that energy. Fertility. Ready to blow away in the wind… or get caught in the fur of a passing animal (me included), eaten, whatever imaginative way evolution has engineered to pass from one generation to another (and of course, evolution never actually imagined anything, but please allow me a touch of autumnal anthropomorphism).
As so often in nature, it’s difficult to decide. Is it an end or a beginning. It’s all sort of mixed up in there somewhere.
Autumn gets me like this sometimes. All those mellow mists and fruitfulness (or was it the other way round?), dark evenings and cold feet. But there’s chestnuts and vino novello, and walnut cake and coffee, and coffee and walnut cake. Well, there’s always coffee. And marmite.
And the leaves start to fall. Slowly. One at a time, it’s early days.
Just watching the seasons go by. May the light be kind to you all.
Adapted from an article first published in The 617 Club.
For my Italian-speaking friends (or anyone wanting to translate into another language), I recommend DeepL translator available clicking here or also as a browser extension for Google Chrome.
Per i miei amici di lingua italiana (o chiunque voglia tradurre in un’altra lingua), consiglio DeepL translator disponibile cliccando qui o anche come estensione per il browser Google Chrome.