The question of when autumn begins seems to raise strong opinions. There’s the calendar date, which in my opinion falls too early, when the days still have that long, hazy, hot summertime feel.
I’ll acknowledge that September is technically an autumn month, but perhaps that’s the true issue: there’s the factual, quantitative definition, and then there’s the one that’s fluid, based on feelings and perceptions.
In that sense, autumn begins when the signs arrive; the first leaves turn, the light takes on a warmer tone and the days grow noticeably short. We just passed the equinox, and that seems like it may be as good a benchmark as ever – with daylight equal to night, there’s no real doubt that the season has changed.
This is just a simple photo from last year, with that warm light and the first yellow in the trees, looking down an abandoned road. Simple, but it captured the feeling for me.