The Almost Season

I see Fall as two seasons. The first is Autumn, glorious, colour drenched Autumn. Crisp mornings bring gauzy mists that surround bare trees, seemingly tucking them in for Winter. Their bare grey branches soften against mist's blur. Then in the afternoon, achingly brilliant red, yellow and orange leaves perk up the dull brown of the ground. The air takes on that clear, clean smell that clears the mind and rosys the cheeks. That's the Autumn I have always known and it's just magnificent here on the island.

Come mid-November, the season that is never mentioned on calenders arrives. I call it the Almost Season. I only discovered this season since I moved here. As with the other season markers, Spring's robin or Summer's mosquitoes, the almost season is definitely here when almost every sentence I say contains the word 'almost'. I'm almost done the gardens, they're all clear, I just have to put the compost on. I'm almost done the pumpkins, they're all picked, I just have to bake a few more. I'm almost done the wood gathering; well, no - that's a big fat lie, as you can see by the top picture. Dead branches pile up year long and for every box I or the kids fill, three box loads of branches fall. Wood gather will never be done completely but I don't have a Never Completed Season so it becomes part of the Almost Season. It gives me some hope, anyway that may be some day it will at least stop growing.

The Fall Almost Season is a delight in itself without the color and fanfare. It's delightful because because it just doesn't matter if those last few things don't get done. I can always put the compost on next spring. The last pumpkins can go to the chickens who will enjoy them still warm from the oven on a winter's morning. It'll warm them from the cockles of their hearts to the combs on their little heads. The wood gathering, ah it's always there no matter what season. The pile is so enjoyed by birds, chipmunks and squirrels it would be a shame to get rid of it completely. So it's almost acceptable as is. And that's what this season is all about, what can be done and what can wait and why it all works out in the end ... or in the Spring, whichever the case may be.