Nice out

The weather continues to manifest unseasonally, one day it's damp and cold, the next it's veritably balmy; it's just not right. How anyone could deny that the climate is changing and with it the certainty of seasonal norms is either invested in saying otherwise, has not been paying attention or is a full hamper short of a picnic. COP27 though, meh; I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and suggest that for the most part the attendees are motivated by noble intent, or at least non nefarious intent, 'for the most part'. Although with 5 of the top 6 carbon emitters (who contribute magnitudes more CO2 than others at 61.33% in 2020) not in attendance, it's a gathering rendered morally virtuous though effectively worthless. Harsh? Maybe, but in reality we should've begun dealing with climate change 40 years ago, instead of kicking the can down the road; now the clock's ticking and we need to raise a tide that lifts us all. Though all the narratives to date lack credibility or any detail on what the alternative future might look like. The idea that we can effectively maintain the status quo through green technology is just a bogus narrative on every level when the change required needs to see a massive reduction in global material/resource consumption, and I don't foresee a global consensus on that issue, nor billions of people buying into it, particularly those already impoverished; or is the plan some dystopian sci-fi social model. Who knows. That's not to say we shouldn't try to do our bit, though I think the best that we'll achieve is going to be assuaging our guilt; collectively, the idea that us (Britain) going 'green' will have any meaningful impart on climate change (our contribution to global CO2 in 2020 was 0.87%) or that we'd influence the rest of the world with our actions, is simply a manifestation of the hubris of our hugely inflated national ego. Still, nice out today, and we should enjoy these days as who knows what the climate has in store for us. 

Lughnasadh

The wheel turns, a season matures and the world around us changes. With Lughnasadh's golden carpet and the burgeoning of first harvest upon us, it's easy to see the manifest fruits nature has afforded us. This year she's being particularly generous. Lughnasadh blessings y'all /|\

The wheel turns

The restrictions of lockdown have had me taking more local walks, which has allowed me to experience the wheel turning far more keenly. Watching the landscape subtly change day by day has been both grounding and illuminating in equal measure.

Burley Old

Autumn's not coming, autumn's here! You can feel it and you can smell it in the air. The tall mature Oak and Beech stands of Burley Old know it, they're grateful for it, it must have been a hard year for them; a relatively dry Winter/Spring followed by a scorcher of s Summer. The weather over the last few years has been a strange and unpredictable mix, often jumbled up, you know, not what you'd expect from the season you're in. For a long time now, I've felt the seasons are changing, shifting. Summer comes earlier in May, and is shorter, Autumn appears in August, and lasts longer, Winter, again, is shorter, and Spring comes early and like Autumn lasts longer. I don't mind that, so much, at least the seasons remain definable, although I must admit to concerns as to how these shifts will affect our native flora and fauna, and their finely meshed interactions. Of course, the overriding concern is whether these changes represent natural fluctuations in seasonal cycles (which is cool), or more worryingly, that we're seeing the tangible effects of climate change, which could lead to all sorts of wrongs as natures pieces become jumbled and out of sync. What can I do if is climate change? Nothing, I suppose. That's what. I have no power or agency to change anything beyond my own behaviour and my own little piece of world, and even the latter has restrictions. I imagine t+hat's all any of us can do. Tea with a Druid (specifically Philip Carr Gomm) this week had a simple and realistic approach to worry; two circles, one containing all our concerns, and within it a smaller circle containing those things in the bigger circle which we can actually affect, a Venn diagram of sorts. It basic principles are spot on, we have to put to one side those things we can't change, for me the big problems, and focus on those thing which we can change. Simple and obvious, really, something we all already know, though something we easily to loose sight of.

Black Water

Autumns dappled light falls on an old meander of Black Water's, now a small oxbow lake, the old tree lined bank is easy to see.  Autumn's a lovely season in the forest.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

September heralds autumn proper, and on cue the leaves turn. The first to show their autumnal finery are also the early adopters of spring...the Birch. Though it's not just them. This mighty Beech (Fagus sylvatica) showed several isolated twigs displaying their autumn colours. I do love the autumn, it's like the spring, full of change and energy.

Strange days

Still solidly entrenched is summer, and yet autumn comes knocking. A bit previous if you ask me.  The air shouldn't be damp and filled with the aroma of petrichor and autumn, mushrooms shouldn't be poking out all over, though that's just how it is. Strange days indeed, man.

Imbolc

The wheel turns and with it the season changes, you can feel it. Nature is waking from her sleep and the energy to transform is slowly forming. Imbolc blessings y'all.