Hey, where's my Autumn?

Well, I know a lot of Melbournians are enjoying this late heat wave we are currently swealtering in but seeing as we are into the first week of March, I do have to ask - Where's my Autumn this year? It

should have begun by now...

 For those of you who know me well, know I have an affinity with Autumn.  I dont know if its the colours which penetrate my soul, or the symbolism autumn brings with it, the warmth in all the colours, autumn festivities, or the cooler evenings and feeling the crunch of autumn leaves beneath my boots, but each and every year when those beautiful big trees begin to change colours, I become in awe of life and our surroundings.

I can attribute my life long love of this beautiful season to my dear old Dad, who loved the changing of the leaves as much as I do.  Dad planted 3 trees in the front yard of our family home which changed into the most beautiful hues of gold and red. Year in year out I would wait for this season to arrive with glee as a young girl, watching the leaves begin to change, turn into a glorious sight then slowly fall until the last ones fell onto a carpet covering the whole front yard. It was the only time I didnt mind doing a bit of sweeping and it was my job to rake them up each year at the end of the season...

I grew to love this season so much that I began to plan a trip which I was fortunate enough to visit New England, Massachusetts a few years back to see their magnificent fall.  This was a trip I had dreamed of taking for 25 years and finally had it fullfilled in 2011 when my good friend Rima and I travelled across 3 States looking at the wondrous nature show America puts on for the world each and every fall and I feel very blessed to have had this experience.

The Hues of red and gold from the trees in Jackson, NH

The Americans who live in New Hampshire, Vermont & the rest of New England are fortunate enough to see the most magnificent sights that fall offers and perhaps one day I may take this trip again to view this spectacle one last time. Of course we have our own beautiful autumn show, particularly if you take a trip up to Bright, Victoria at this time of the year, a pretty country town where Bill and I first visited before we were married, and the last holiday I took with my parents before I left home for good was also spent at Bright which puts on a spectacular blaze of colour each and every year where people travel for miles to see and surround themselves in the beauty.

One thing I know for sure, is that I will be planting a new tree in the front yard of my beach retreat, just like the ones I grew up with, one which will showcase a blaze of colour each autumn, and then sheds its leaves, just for me, just long enough to stop me in my busy tracks and remember to take time out to look around me and reflect on the simple things that make me smile and to remind myself just how small we really are in this beautiful big world of ours...so thankyou Melbourne summer I have enjoyed our time together and through you, have learned to love the sea....however, it's time to move over and make way for the showcase of the year to begin...