The 1st of the month.... I'm a day late............. marks the start of meteorological autumn, astronomically Autumn doesn't begin until Mabon or the Autumn Equinox which is on the 22nd this year................... So you choose.
There are old traditions about the most frequent weather patterns for September which tell of three periods of "Old-wives Summer", each are followed by stormy days. The dry spells were said to occur about the 7th - 10th, 16th to 21st and around the 30th as anti-cyclones move east across the UK. The most common time for gales was around the 24th. I wonder if things are still the same in 2024?
The Golden Rod is yellow
The Corn is turning brown
The trees in apple orchards
With fruit are bending down
The gentian's bluest fringes
Are curling in the sun
In dusty pods the milkweed
It's hidden silk has spun
The sedges flaunt their harvest
In every meadow nook
And asters by the brook-side
Make asters in the brook
From dewy lanes at morning
The grapes sweet odours rise
At noon the roads all flutter
With yellow butterflies
By all these lovely tokens
September days are here
With summer's best of weather
And autumns best of cheer
But none of all this beauty
Which floods the earth and air
Is unto me the secret
Which makes September fair.
T'is a thing which I remember
To name it thrills me yet
One day of one September
I never can forget.
Helen Hunt Jackson (1830-1885)
September dries up wells or breaks down bridges
September rain is much liked by the farmer
Many haws and many sloes make many cold toes.
September 2nd 1666 was the day the the Great Fire of London started . It burned for 3 days and nights, destroying the Cathedral, the Royal Exchange, about 100 parish churches, many public buildings and more than 10,000 homes. Yet the death toll was much lower than the 75,000 that died during the Great Plague of the previous two years.
When the city was rebuilt roads were straightened, timber homes were replaced with brick and Sir Christopher Wren's designs were used for St Paul's Cathedral, 50 churches and the Monument - to remember those that died.
Well it’s Autumn here in Dorset, such heavy dew every morning, plenty of haws and the blackberries are all but finished. We had the most incredible thunderstorm here yesterday which put an end to summer. I love Autumn, enough daylight to complete outside chores, sloes and nuts to forage for and long walks taken without the heat of the sun, bring it on. Sarah Browne.
ReplyDeleteI hate the thought of colder days, so this line you wrote is me..Many haws and many sloes make many cold toes!!
ReplyDeleteI really must get out and pick some blackberries!
ReplyDeleteAfter all these years I don't expect the weather to follow the calendar any more. The changes of the seasons will do as they please - though, as I first observed when I was abut 6 or 7, the weather always gets better once the school term starts again!
ReplyDeleteI tend to go with the astronomical date but it is certainly looking very autumnal already. Such a short summer. xx
ReplyDeleteI like the historic note to the coming of Autumn, I think we should have an 'Indian Summer' sometime soon. So perhaps the climate is sticking to the rules.
ReplyDeleteMy farmer father always warned of equinoxial gales, both spring and autumn.
ReplyDeleteWe now have dark, clammy weather and it’s so exhausting. I’m having a tidying kind of day and need to prep my craft class too. Catriona
ReplyDeleteThe turning of the year always seems so significant - the start of a new academic year. It's drizzly and gloomy here, not the glorious September I was waiting for, though yesterday was very warm.
ReplyDeleteI'm going with astronomical autumn. I'm clinging on to summer for as long as I can. Xx
ReplyDeleteI always seem to prefer September over August somehow September is the giving month - harvest and all the garden and hedgerow fruit and veg I suppose.
ReplyDeleteAlison in Wales x
I always think of 1st September as the start of Autumn. The kids are back at school this week, the blackberries are going past their first flush, the nights are drawing in, and this year my warmer socks are on and the non-stop rain is making it feel truly autumnal.
ReplyDeleteThe Great Fire of London was definitely a mixed curse and a blessing. Looking back, it appears to be more of a blessing!
ReplyDeleteSeptember is a great month and it brings cooler weather which is most welcomed, especially after such a hot and humid summer.
ReplyDeleteIt really feels like autumn here. Well at least most mornings do. Trees are starting to change as well.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
It has been cool here today...definite swearer weather. Frost warnings tonight. It is autumn here, no matter what the calendar says.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely Autumnal here. My favourite time of the year, and one of my Autumn photos made it into the local rag again! My blackberries have not got the message though. Hopefully they'll fruit later than usual. Lots on the brambles just not swelling and ripening.
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