Character actor

 

I have to give it to the summer, it's remained committed to character throughout; regrettably that character has been an Oscar worthy portrait of autumn. Bloody Hell, another overcast grey day punctuated by light rains and today with occasional rumbles of thunder to boot. Oh huzzah.

Late to the game

 

Just as the buds begin to fatten, and the canopy prepares to come into leaf, a touch late the forest finely looks comfortable with being wet. It's been another in a growing parade of weird weather winters; no rhyme or reason to the weather, instead a constant whack a mole of unrelated weather types.

Parky

This morning was the first one of the season to feel proper cold; parky as it was though, I was dressed for it, I was moving and the Sun retained a good degree of warmth to it, so I was still warmer than I've been sitting at home. Which was nice.

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. 

Not oakay

I've noticed that a good number of the forest's oaks haven’t fared well this year, the tips of many branches have their leaves faded, browned and curled. I'm not certain of the cause, though I suspect it's a combination of factors, the weather, underlying climatic change and disease. Whatever the cause, it's had a drastic affect on the quantity and quality of the forest oak's acorns; this years upcoming 'pannage' will afford the pigs slim pickings, especially noticeable after last year's acorn glut. 

Viene una tormenta

Viene una tormenta! Ain't that the truth, man, in more ways than the obvious one.

Iced

It didn't snow last night, nor did it rain, it was something in-between, though not sleet, something like tiny tiny hail or tiny flecks of ice. Whatever they were were so tiny that they made no impression on the snow, none of that stippling you get when it rains or sleets on snow. By the morning every outside surface was encrusted in a hard clear icy glaze a few millimetres thick, it was quite a sight. It was a resilient ice coating too, I watch as one of our cats (Mr Fluff), a fair sized one, walked across the snowy lawn without leaving a mark in the snow. It was treacherous to walk on though, any compacted surface was lubricious, and over covered snow it was like walking across a slick Crème brûlée top, your feet slid all over as you broke through. Interesting weather, interesting day.

Stop!

That's it, it's snowing, everything has to stop. We must a never ending source of amusement and bemusement to the world. A country that obsesses about the weather, constantly talking about it, though when it comes it's still a surprise and we can't deal with it, being ill equipped and ill prepared. That's Britain over though, isn't it. A country that puffs it's chest and talks the talk, though there's nothing there to substantiate it, and when it comes to walking the walk, all we've got are excuses and a note from our Mum. Rule Britannia, and all that. 

Hail

Yesterdays hail still survives in the shaded hollows of the forest. Or. It's evidence of the mythical New Forest Snow Rabbit, who secretly hops to and fro about the woods depositing her crystally droppings to help the forest grow.  You decide how colourfully you want to see the world. 

Tug of war

The seasons are currently engaged in their seasonal tug of war, it's nothing new, it's just how it goes. We're nearing equinox, when neither the Holly King nor the Oak King have supremacy. Spring is raring to go, but winter not ready to relinquish its reign.  So today I left the house in sunshine and blue skies, I put washing on the line to dry and chanced a lighter coat, only to find myself an hour later walking in the forest being lashed by hail and sleet. I should have known better really.