Catch a falling leaf
It’s in the air. You can smell it. You can see it. Leaves turning yellow, that dew that lingers a little later in the mornings and puddles on the trails that take longer to evaporate, if at all. Autumn. I should say it quietly, as in southern Europe and the balmier parts of the northern hemisphere the sun is still beating.
But here, here in the damp uplands of Wales the seasons God is flexing his muscles and nature is giving way.
Course you wouldn’t have known it out on the trails today. Green is still king. The ferns are alive and the shafts of sunlight still warm your face as they dance through the branches. But it is only a fleeting glimpse of what has been, a summer that promised so much in May and June, and petered out (in most of northern UK at least) in July and August, bringing deluges great enough to swell rivers and dampen the summer spirit.
But for all the deaths throws of the summer season, Autumn invigorates this author. The countryside smells different, the mornings (when not wet) are somehow cleaner, the cross country season is getting revved up, as the mud starts the churn in the XC fields across the country. I actually like the cooling of the season, I enjoy the fact that I can now put on a light jacket and run, and not heat up too much.
These shots are from today’s little 6 miler in the woods. The light was amazing, one of those days that you wish you could tell all of your friends about, but actually you want to keep to yourself. The tracks were dry considering the massive amount of rain we have had in the last week and the air was still, clean and dank.
So, don’t lament the passing of summer, rejoice in the new running season, that sees the shoes getting a little bit muddier and spirit damper, but cleaner. For Autumn is here and I for one am invigorated.
Reactions so far
Andy Symonds Sep 19, 10:42 AM
bring on the winter! – and if it’s cold enough, the ground will be rock solid for 3 months again and i’ll not get any of my shoes muddy, like last year. which is a bonus!…
Dylan Cole-Jones Sep 19, 08:06 PM
Cross Country season…mud glorious mud – well done @ Dyfi 8 today Matt – :-)
Morten Sep 20, 08:39 AM
I am SO with you on this. A great Automn day is pure magic!
And the clean cool air tricks me into believing that I am running in the mountains.