And suddenly in April ...


 
 

I woke up this morning conscious of a new quality to the light in the bedroom. Like it was shining through a filter, which, as it turns out, it was.

Without warning, the ash tree outside my bedroom window has suddenly turned golden. Sometimes autumn sneaks in quietly, leaf by leaf until you realise that yes, the mornings are cold and maybe it's time to order the winter firewood supply. Other times autumn explodes in one massive display. Night temperatures plummet and the trees all say, "Gosh! We'd better get our autumn on!" Trees are generally polite and well-spoken so as not to offend the bees, and would never declare, "Fuck me but that was a bloody cold night! Better get our twigs* out!" While it hasn't been a particularly hot summer, autumn has arrived suddenly. Maybe not explosively, per se, but it's certainly made a memorable entrance.

The ash tree outside my bedroom window was clearly coasting along thinking that late summer was just getting a bit cool but nothing to lose your leaves over, and then realised that its mate on the other side of the yard was deep red and suddenly had to play catch-up autumn. It's not a particularly spectacular ash tree, just your common or garden** variety, but in autumn and then again in spring it does put on a nice show, and in summer it covers the window effectively so I have no need to lower the blind. 

There's usually one week in autumn in Canberra when every tree in the city seems to shimmer in shades from deep maroon to iridescent gold, then the following week all the trees are bald. It's not quite that dramatic in this town, where,  for starters, there's not quite as many trees as in Canberra, but they also like to spread the season out a bit longer. On the local golf course the silver birch just have a few tenacious leaves clinging to the top branches, while other trees are just starting to turn.


The local currawongs have cleared out the remains of this summer's vegie garden and while the dahlias are still flowering, they also are on the wane. Time to clear out the beds, harvest the pumpkins, mulch, plant the broad beans and generally prepare for a few months of cold weather.

Neither of the trees pictured is the one outside my bedroom - really, it's not that spectacular, but it does cast a lovely light into an otherwise rather dreary south-facing room.


* As opposed to getting their fingers out. Well, duh.

** Well, it would be garden variety, wouldn't it? I mean, people don't keep ash trees indoors***.

*** Note to self: find out if you can keep ash trees as indoor plants.****

**** Note to self: Do not, under any circumstances, even try this - the cats would think I'd installed a new exotic litter tray for them.



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