I orignally came from a country which only have two seasons--the wet and the dry seasons. That's why I did not have any idea what autumn was like then. I had a romantic notion, however, of the season based on the song Autumn Leaves as sung by Nat King Cole, one of my big sisters' favourite artists..... the autumn leaves drift by the window, the autumn leaves of red and gold I see your lips the summer kisses the sunburnt hands I used to hold...
The song goes further to say ...
Since you went away the sun grows cold and soon I hear old winter song but I miss you most of all my darling when autumn leaves start to fall .
As young as I was then when I listened to this song on our phonograph, I had associated Autumn with sadness and parting. As I am in general a melancholic person, the song appealed so much to my emotion that sometimes I could vicariously felt the sadness of the artist who composed this song. Other times, I could also cry jsut listening to this song even if I had not techically been broken hearted then.
When I studied biology, the romance I associated with autumn acquired a scientific twist in it. In the plant physiological aspect of our studies in my botany subjects, the lecturer told us the chemical changes of how the green leaves of a deciduous plant gradually changed their colour to red, gold, and then brown. I said silently to myself then, oh, WoW!
Yes, I had spent hours and hours just absorbing the beauty of the autumn leaves and sometimes wished then I had special someone to add meaning to Autumn in my life. There was no one then, and I thought to myself it was okay. Why? because in a few days, I would be going back to my country where I would only be experiencing two seasons: technically the wet wet and the dry wet. Ah...I would be coming home to rain rain and more rain. I told myself I also love rain, anyway... but not the flooding rains.... that slowed me down in achieving the goals and target performances I set to do each day, each week and each month that pass by. And then I migrated to Australia. WoW! I thought I would now be in a country where there are four seasons: winter, spring, summer and autumn.
I told myself I could now appropriately and applicably and meaningfully sing the song Autumn Leaves, so to speak. Then, was just like an illusion because Autumn per se was far from reality in my life. I only knew then summer. And as I had said earlier--summer wet and summer dry. When I bought a house in Sydney, I needed not go elsewhere to admire the beauty of autumn leaves because they were just before my eyes. In my backyard then was a huge Canadian maple tree which shed ten thousands of beautiful coloured leaves when Autumn comes. I intentionally did not rake the leaves then because I wanted to have a picture of myself in an ocean of autumn leaves. I did have one eventually (I could not find it though at the moment to post here). I lost this tree, however, when its primary root was accidentally hit by the man I asked to do some digging in my yard. I was dismayed a bit because I would not have ever (!) an ocean of autumn leaves in my yard. As I stay in the house most of the time now, I barely could appreciate Autumn when it comes. I wish I could go to the mountains during the season so I could see more of it. Nevertheless, I finally realised Autumn is very much present in my life (with or without the ocean of autumn leaves)---its romance, the colours associated with it as well as the joys and tears.
The photos here were taken a few days when Winter had officially begun. I was happy Brett drove me to still see a glimpse of Autumn though as shown in these pictures. By the same token, I was happy to have this souvenir photo of me --Autumn 2012. Thanks to Brett!!!