Autumn has barely dawned and I feel it slipping away.
Perhaps it’s because I am in a strange season myself, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late to savour autumn’s dark fruit.
The year keeps turning, life keeps spinning. Brambles jewel the hedgerows whether I pick them or not, the loch waits cold and deep whether I visit or not.
Yet if I do go out to meet the season, I know that nature will greet me with her whole being. This autumn, by earth, by fire, by water and air, I will try to do the same.
earth
Twining verdant ivy through nut-brown curls, padding barefoot in chilly equinox mud. Returning my soul and skin to the moon. Wrapping limbs in an old silk kimono, perfumed still with the joy and tears of three summers past. Touching the Earth and feeling her squeeze my hand back. Slumbering deep as the season turns dark and sleepy. Doubling down on pastry.
air
Climbing high, where winds utter requiems for souls stripped from the land. Up into the clouds, kissed by mist and thinning light. Or else cooried by the inglenook, breathing the rarified air of gracious company and a language we refuse to lose. Long nights beget long conversations, what secrets will we impart to the dark?
fire
Dawn-fire rimes house and hill, a whisper of ice crackles underfoot. I place night-cooled skin in the path of the sun while before me the barley glints gold, rippling like ripe flames. Evening bonfires, woodsmoke clinging to curls, the sting of whisky on numb lips...how I miss warmth in the darkness. Rituals of fire and cleansing send old feelings up in flame.
water
Giving gifts to the water; libations, poetry, shivering skin. The loch is a glassy, unblinking eye fixed skywards. Feelings float to the surface and drift away like shrunken leaves crumpling from a tree. Indoors, rain batters the window and streetlights turn the droplets amber. The kettle fills the kitchen with pleasant wet steam. Deep within a river in spate cleaves a clean, thunderous path to the sea.
And yourself, any autumn wishes?
Enjoyed this week’s letter?
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I love how you addressed each element. Beautiful writing. I love reading your words!
Blown away by your writing, yet again. Your word choice, the scenes you set, the imagery. It’s all so tactile. Gorgeous piece, Kate. You’ve put into words so much of what I love about this time of year.