Beautiful Seasons

Tomorrow is the Winter Solstice in Australia, the shortest day of the year. We are in winter after that, though it's been pretty cold the past couple of weeks, at least in Australian terms. I've woken to frost on my car in the mornings, and we had severe rain last weekend. But I personally like seasons, and wouldn't like to be living in an area without seasonal weather differences. Each season brings it's own beauty to the world, even winter. The rains bring water essential to life, and from death comes regrowth in the natural world. Even in the heart of a city, beauty can be found if you're looking for it.

A fallen leaf hosts drops of rain water on a sunny day.

Winter

It's the first day of winter today. Now, if you're in the northern hemisphere you probably have no idea what I'm going on about here. Unless you're in the UK!  Actually, I shouldn't be too hard on British weather. June can be a beautiful month in Britain, with the blossoming of flowers and berries, a warmth and freshness to the air, and a lengthening of daylight through to the summer solstice. I have some very fond memories of June. At least until Wimbledon starts and the British monsoon fortnight takes over!

"There are 2 seasons in Scotland: June and winter" - Billy Connelly

To be honest, I'm a bit confused by winter and summer dates. It used to be that the solstice marked the beginning of those seasons, though the winter solstice can also be seem as midwinter. However here in Australia the seasons run on a purely monthly basis with June to August being winter, September to November being Spring, December to February as Summer and March to May as Autumn. So I'm going to try to get to the bottom of this. Should winter start on the 1st June, or should it start on the solstice which this year is the 21st June? And just when can we expect the bleak midwinter?

"What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness?" - John Steinbeck

Well, according to the Herald Sun, today marked the first day of winter in Melbourne, and they ran a story on crazy people who decided to mark the occasion by swimming in the cold sea. But is it right to suggest that June the 1st is the start of winter? However, other countries including the USA and British nations seem to be believe that winter starts on the solstice, and you can check the dates for these online.


The problem is that the solstice represents midwinter, though meteorologically this is incorrect as the coldest part of the year occurs after the solstice. Countries which believe that the solstice represent the midwinter include Scandinavian countries and Ireland. So really there is no agreement, and a number of southern hemisphere countries reckon the same way as Australia do and start winter on the first of June. To complicate things more, there are theories which advocate more than 4 seasons. For example, the Hindu calendar has 6 seasons, spring summer, monsoon, autumn, early winter and late winter with 2 month cycles rather than 3 month cycles. Then there are non calendar based seasons such as 'ecological' which look to events happening as marking the changes of seasons. For example, flowers blossom in spring while bears hibernate in winter, and observation of these natural cyclical changes is used as designating seasons, Typically ecological systems have 6 seasons, spring, high summer, late summer, autumn, winter and early spring. Interesting stuff!

"Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire; it is the time for home" -Edith Sitwell

Winter is an old German word which has been in use in the English language for well over 1000 years and as much as we moan about it, it is a necessary season in the scheme of things. And there's much comfort to be taken about winter. There are warm and cosy winter clothes, hearty foods, and fires to sit near. In fact, it can be argued that as uncomfortable as winter is, it is easier to stay warm in winter than to stay cool in summer. I guess it depends on the person. I appreciate the warmth of Australia, but I have nothing against the winter either. I think living without seasons would be a tedious thing for me now and I'm looking forward to travelling further south next week to Tasmania and colder temperatures. I'm rather spoiled in Australia, because winters are not harsh, or long, so I'd better make the most of it while it lasts! And the best thing about winter? As Shelley said "If winter comes, can spring be far behind?"


And to keep up a positive note about cold and wet weather, a last poem by Robert Louis Stevenson which talks about both good and bad in winter.

Late lies the wintry sun a-bed,

A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;

Blinks but an hour or two; and then,

A blood-red orange, sets again.

Before the stars have left the skies,

At morning in the dark I rise;

And shivering in my nakedness,

By the cold candle, bathe and dress.

Close by the jolly fire I sit

To warm my frozen bones a bit;

Or with a reindeer-sled, explore

The colder countries round the door.

When to go out, my nurse doth wrap

Me in my comforter and cap;

The cold wind burns my face, and blows

Its frosty pepper up my nose.

Black are my steps on silver sod;

Thick blows my frosty breath abroad;

And tree and house, and hill and lake,

Are frosted like a wedding-cake.

Autumn

It's a funny old word. I was thinking this just the other day when admiring a beautiful Melbourne Autumn day. It was about 25C, bright blue skies and hardly any wind. We have had an unseasonably hot start to Autumn this year with a host of days in the 30's at the start of March. But then it suddenly broke and we've been treated to absolutely glorious weather, with the odd bit of madness such as the squall that blew through Melbourne this afternoon bringing high winds and rain.

New England in the Fall (prairiecoach)

To be honest, Autumn is my favourite season in Melbourne (it was spring when I lived in the UK). There is a freshness to the climate which no doubt has something to do with the drop in temperatures after our fierce summers. It is a relief to be over with the 35C+ temps and even 30C+ temps continually can become tiring after a sustained period. But Autumn is also a colourful month for flora, and there can be some breathtaking sunsets in Autumn.

I have vivid memories of a road trip that I undertook with Caroline to see New England in the fall. We drove from New York to Boston along the coast and then headed through the White Mountains and up to Montreal. We came back down through Adirondack country to New York.We did this about 10 years ago and I still have amazing memories, even though the locals kept telling us the colours weren't fully out yet! You can also get some pretty spectacular scenery in Australia in autumn. I've been to the Grampians and the Southern Alps in Autumn and was pretty impressed.

Bright in Victoria living up to it name (Australiaimg)

But as I said, autumn is a funny old word. It is old, stemming from Old French. Funnily enough, Americans use the term Fall instead of Autumn and this is also derived from the "olde worlde", though this time Germanic languages, possibly Norse. It was commonly used in England, especially in the 16th and 17th centuries, and that is when emigration to the USA was at it's peak. So those early English settlers took the word Fall with them to the USA where it has remained in use, while England changed to the more European Autumn.

While Autumn is the oddest looking of the words for the seasons, it is by no means the oldest. Surprisingly, that goes to Summer, which can trace it's origins back about 6000 years! There's loads of interesting facts about the names of the seasons and other things on this site. I'm going to stop wondering how words came to be used for things and start getting out and enjoying the beauty of Autumn/Fall in Melbourne! Here's a bit of Vivaldi to celebrate Autumn.