I love the colours of autumn, as I have mentioned before. We have a little mini-forest (kept below fence height most of the time to minimise exposure to summer's drying north winds, as well as keeping them short enough that they're not a threat to neighbours if they fall over - and they are in pots, although I have deliberately encouraged the roots to grow out beyond those and connect with their neighbours) of sycamores immediately outside my window. They never have seeds (too young - only around ten years old? Saves me collecting them, at any rate, as the plants are considered a pest in many areas), but I get the change of colours right outside my window.
I share the plants' desire to slow down - and have for all those parts of my life that I have lived in temperate latitudes. When I have lived in tropical climates, it is different: they only have the dry and wet seasons (including an incredibly uncomfortable, higher usual humidity pre-wet season build up).
But I am back in my beloved temperate climes, so I get to appreciate autumn - even if it is noticeably so much warmer of late. I am always a little concerned when deciduous trees start losing their leaves when it is still warm, but they're not short of water (it has rained of late, too - always a relief), and the days are much shorter. And this morning is a cool morning, unusually late this year.
Unfortunately, I can't sleep in: I'm living in the industrial era, and my times of rising and sleeping re tied to the economy's demands, not natural cycles.
Actually, I've lived through around a quarter to one third of that era, which is around two to two and a half centuries long or so. It's a small slice of human history to have caused such an existential threat.
I've also spent four and a half decades in the capitalist system, fighting against inhumaneness and injustice, and the struggle shows. My personal phone is a Nokia - not connected to the Internet, and not even set up to receive photos, but it does take photos, and I can download them on to my PC. I took some last evening of our cat sleeping on my arm while I was laying in bed and reading: I look dreadful, with an almost yellowish pallor (that was actually to some degree the combination of the light in the room, the limitations of my camera, and my limited skills with mobile phone cameras), showing my age, and looking tired.
And I'm just one of billions of people paying the price for short-sightedness, greed/materialism, and the failure to stand up to those and/or take a broader view.
But Earth and Nature continue on, so I shall enjoy this cool morning and the autumn colours, and struggle on: that's what I do.
PS - writing this short article took longer when aforementioned cat insisted on having some play time.
