Early fall rain has told me confidently about the arrival of the season. And there’s nothing so evocative, familiar but startling, as that particular scent that is carried in the droplets, and in the mist rising from the ground.
“Is not this a true autumn day? Just the still melancholy that I love – that makes life and nature harmonise. The birds are consulting about their migrations, the trees are putting on the hectic or the pallid hues of decay, and begin to strew the ground, that one’s very footsteps may not disturb the repose of earth and air, while they give us a scent that is a perfect anodyne to the restless spirit. Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.”
― George Eliot, George Eliot’s Life, as Related in her Letters and Journals
[Letter to Miss Lewis, Oct. 1, 1841]
Gladsome Lights 
It is my very favourite time of the year!!
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For us it is exactly the opposite, yet there is mist, delightful fragrances, petrichlor when rain falls lightly to the ground, bird song … we move into the birth of spring as you experience the enfolding of autumn 🙂
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Mmmmm, how lovely. We haven’t got rain yet, but this week in the low 80s has been such a blessing for September!
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You are so right about that scent of rain in the fall in the woods.
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What a lovely passage from George Eliot. We have Canada geese practicing their vee formations overhead. And the crows have been gathering in huge flocks to consult about their migrations. Such a lovely time of year. A little poignant, too.
Thank you, Gretchen.
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Interesting that the behavior of birds communicates so much — I would like to be more aware of it. As it is, I at least do notice the different species that show up in their seasons. We have Canada geese year-round here, and plenty of crows. But they probably do also say something, nevertheless.
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