Melancoly Days: Thoughts on Autumn

haiku_ — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 23:09:00 GMT

"The melancholy days are come, the saddest of the year,/of wailing winds and naked woods, and meadows brown and sear."

These lines from a William Cullen Bryant poem have been running through my head today.

Since last Sunday we have been enjoying unseasonably high temperatures. Temperatures that are more common for June and July. While September is not typically a cold month here, weather this nice is relatively uncommon. At least for 7 straight days. It not for the fact that all the leaves on the trees are turning from green to yellow and red, it was possible to convince oneself that it still was summer and not two thirds of the way through September.

While everybody around me was delighting in weather, for much of the week it was a source of frustration and annoyance to me. I was stuck in bed nursing a sore. To say this had me grumpy would be an understatement. But I finally was able to get out on Friday and went for a stroll downtown. We followed a paved path that hugged the riverbank, crossed a pedestrian bridge over to an island park, meandered through the island itself, and stopped by a tiny cafe for some tea.

It was nice. There are no roads or development of any kind on the huge 20 hectare island, except for the cafe. An extensive paved path system meant I could go just about anywhere I wanted to. The river near the eastern part of the island has been landscaped into a sheltered lagoon, while the western tip is a wetland environment. The result is geese and ducks and a host of other birds are found in abundance all over the park. Watching as the ducks and geese loudly went about their business along the shoreline in what can only be described as controlled chaos made me smile. But it really was the trees that made the day so special. There was a slight breeze and a blizzard of colourful leaves swirled around and blanketed the ground. It really was beautiful to just sit and watch it.

But here is where the melancoliness comes in. I don't want summer to end. I don't want the colorful flowers to wilt and die or the trees to end up with bare branches or the river to become empty when all the birds migrate south to warmer climates. Although there were many ups and downs, it has been a good summer for me. Sitting on the banks of the river watching the geese chase each other and scold the ducks, I didn't want it to end. And although I was enjoying the outing to the park, I found myself feeling very melancholy.

But I am not really sure why. I have lived in, or close to, this city for most of my life. I know we have short summers. Frost in the morning is common by the end of August. Snow will likely fall within a few weeks, even if it doesn't tend to stay on the ground for long until the end of November. It is just a fact of life here. But still I can't shake the rueful feeling that I have to say goodbye to the nice weather and the flowers and ducks. I might be very happy if the weather could stay exactly how it was on Friday. It wasn't too hot for me to be outside, as much of August had been. Nor was it so cold that I was miserable and buried under a mound of blankets and coats. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day.

But despite my desire to stop time and mother nature, and prevent the "wailing winds and naked woods" that Bryant's poem talks about, I realize that what he says is only partially true. It's a fact that no matter how badly I wish against it, the snow and ice are coming and will snuff out all the green. The fact that the warm weather ended today with rain and overly glooming skies just reinforces that. But it won't mean that everything is barren and lifeless. Winter, like the autumn I am witnessing now, compensates for that loss bu giving us its own beauty. And although it seems so far off now, after winter comes the return of spring and its reminder that life does indeed spring forth again from under the snow and ice. So it's not all that bad, I guess. And I do get to enjoy the spectacular burst of colour from the trees, as if they are saying "summer is short here but we will go out in a blaze of glory."

It all balances out. I just wish summer would hang around a bit longer...

(edited to add: I had hoped to add some pictures but the blog software will just let me attach one for now....its at the very bottom of the blog entry)

* Fors those who might be interested, the William Cullen Bryant poem that opened this post is called "The Death of the the Flowers." Cheerful stuff, huh? lol

It's a rather long poem so I am going going to post an excerpt and a link for anybody who might want to read the whole thing:

THE MELANCHOLY days have come, the saddest of the year,
Of wailing winds, and naked woods, and meadows brown and sere;
Heaped in the hollows of the grove, the autumn leaves lie dead;
They rustle to the eddying gust, and to the rabbit's tread;
The robin and the wren are flown, and from the shrubs the jay,	5
And from the wood-top calls the crow through all the gloomy day.

http://www.bartleby.com/102/20.html

Disconnect the Dots : Weather

Melancoly Days: Thoughts on Autumn