Noticing Autumn

I have found myself recently stocking up by making warming comfort food for my freezer –  red cabbage, leek and stilton soup and cottage pie to name a few things. On the garage shelves there is now elderberry syrup and fire cider both for boosting the immune system and keeping bugs and viruses at bay during the Autumn and Winter months,

With the leaves changing colour and an Easterly wind blowing I feel my energy gently settling inwards to prepare for the winter.

Nowadays the word is “wintering”, a time to rest and reset but I don’t want to hunker down or retreat too quickly.

This time of the year there is so much change going on.

Walks have been stunning from sunlit topped waves at the beach to a rustic palette of colours in woods. Our senses are heightened with the crunch of the leaves on the floor, the stunning sunsets, the smell of damp natural decay in the woods, the coolness of a nip of frost in the air and the welcome taste of a hot chocolate.

On one autumnal walk I had an amazing encounter – coming face to face (within 100yards) of a magnificent red deer hind. I thought it was a statue at first until she gently turned her head and we had a few seconds of just looking at each other before she calmly walked away.
I almost thought I was seeing things because she would have been at least 6 feet tall, but it was such a visceral feeling with my heart beating fast and a huge sense of gratitude and connection.

Every encounter is for a reason, what was the message for me?

Autumn brings nature and wildlife more into focus and perhaps a little closer to us.

Walking a little slower, listening rather than talking, noticing what is under your feet and above your head we allow ourselves to become part of nature.

What have you noticed recently?

In my garden there are more birds visiting including the Greater Spotted woodpecker and the enigmatic Robin, overhead Red Kites and Buzzards search for road kill, squirrels (much to my dog’s delight) are more on the ground than in the trees preparing for Winter and kamikaze pheasants are everywhere!

Don’t ignore Autumn as you wait for Christmas – enjoy, notice and appreciate the changes that this season brings.