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OCTOBER ... AUTUMN COLOURS
With apologies to the Southern Hemisphere where winter is turning to spring, here in the UK what little we’ve had of summer this year is rapidly sliding into autumn. There’s a distinct tinge of brown in the trees, the blackberries are picked (and are in my freezer ready for future apple and blackberry crumbles) and the mornings have that misty autumnal feel about them – not that I notice because I stay snuggled beneath the duvet for as long as I can.
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| autumn © Charles Moberly |
I like autumn, but I’m not too keen on the nights drawing in or the thought that, to quote Game of Thrones – 'Winter’s Coming'. We’ve not had much of a summer, and I reckon the trees are as fed up with the rain as much as we are. But autumn is magnificent where colour is concerned, all those yellows, reds and oranges as the trees turn and the autumn flowers fill the garden, dahlias, chrysanthemums and ‘Black Eyed Susan’ (as I call them, I think they have another name now.) Mushrooms are in the fields (which reminds me, we need to pick and freeze some.) Berries along the hedgerow, although the holly hedge hasn’t had so many red berries this year. Last year it was smothered. The ponies like blackberries, so we have to get in quick or all we’re left with is empty brambles.
What sort of world would it be without colour? If everything were just black, white and grey? A very dismal place, I think. I realised about natural colours soon after I’d had my cataracts seen to – not being aware beforehand just how dull colour had become. It was only when realising that a summer sky was the bluest blue, that red was really red and yellow was a dazzle of bright delight that I discovered I’d been missing out. Sunsets with that beautiful shout of colour, red, pinks, purples fading to golds then dark blues... I notice sunsets more now that I live here in Devon, it’s fascinating to watch the seasons pass and note where the sun goes down of an evening moving along the skyline as the months change.
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| I'll be honest - this is dawn, not sunset. Still a glory of colour though! |
I wonder if Queen Victoria’s obvious depression after losing Albert was increased because of the Victorian insistence of wearing black? Although does the trend of wearing bright colours at a funeral in order to celebrate a life now passed, sit well with all of us? Bright colours somehow seem disrespectful, although different cultures have different colours. In many countries, white is the colour of mourning.
Despite black being ideal for the ‘little black dress’ that many of us ladies rely on for various posh occasions, colours are so much more cheerful. I feel sorry for you men, tied to boring black or grey suits for formal wear, at least, perhaps coloured shirts can play their part.
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| Hens of many colours |
Where did colours for political parties and leaning come from? The Red or Blue? Green, I guess, is obvious for the environment I suppose.
Colour is controversial when applied to us humans, although racism seems to have shifted away from Black or Brown skin to moaning about European migrants ‘not speaking English’. I suppose, without the obvious skin colour, those who are racist can only pick up on the difference in language? Yet I bet these same people who complain refuse to speak even the basic 'hello', 'please' and 'thank you' in the local language when they go to France or Spain on holiday.
People should be judged by who they are, not what colour their skin is or what country they come from. Being kind, caring, helpful and polite is, surely, far more important than what colour they are? I remember a girl joining our class at Secondary School, I was twelve or thirteen. She came, I think, from Sri Lanka, had long black hair that was like spun silk and gorgeous eyes. I can’t remember her name but I do remember thinking that I wished I looked like her because she was exquisitely beautiful. Yet she was teased, heckled, and yes, bullied because her skin was a light brown. I also remember having a go at one of those bully girls. She’d recently come back from a holiday in the sun and was boasting about her golden tan – for the life of me I couldn’t understand what was fine about her fake brown skin, yet she was horrid about the other girl's beautiful and natural colour.
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| Lexie's winning colours |
I find it interesting that we have different colours for different feelings – red for anger, blue for sorrow, yellow for joy, green for envy. Who first invented these equivalents I wonder? I think I’m right that the ancient Greeks didn’t have the word ‘blue’, I assume they used more descriptive words like azure, turquoise, sapphire etc? What about the colours of the rainbow? We see many here in Devon, beautiful arcs across our valley... Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain.
I read somewhere that we all see colours differently, and animals see different shades to what we see – horses, for instance, can’t see orange. Colours can alter our moods, blue light can help to dispel Seasonal Affective Disorder, although I find regularly taking Vitamin D is much more effective.
Red has been a colour to denote danger or evil since 4,000 B.C, used in
ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs to denote a warning. Does this come from nature?
Red stinging insects, poisonous berries and lethal snakes for instance? I noticed at the recent Historical Novel
Society conference I attended that on the bookstall, the thrillers
or crime had a lot of red on the covers. Romance? Yellows and pinks...
adventure, blues and greens. The editor’s or teacher’s pen is red of course.
I think that we take colour for granted. Maybe we should smile more often at someone wearing a colourful dress or shirt, and take more active interest in the colours of trees. Have you ever noticed how many shades of green they can be?
And it doesn’t matter what flowers you put together in a vase or grow together in a garden, their colours never clash.
Isn’t nature wonderful?
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Lovely post. I think autumn my favourite season though this rain is tiresome.
ReplyDeleteI also love autumn for the colours - I don't like the encroaching darker nights or the coming cold though!
DeletePosted on behalf of author Charles Moberly:
ReplyDeleteYour statement about what men are “obliged” to wear has provoked me to respond.
- “I feel sorry for you men, tied to boring black or grey suits for formal wear, at least, perhaps coloured shirts can play their part.” -
Yes, many men wear colourful shirts, although the young seem to favour a dingy drabness these days. But very few men wear colourful trousers. Why not? Many of us wore them in the psychedelic 1960s. What’s stopping us now? I have about twelve pairs of bright, patterned, and unashamedly loud pairs of trousers. I wear them to dinner parties. Grayson Perry wears skirts. Feel free, I say. Don’t cower in the herd. Be whatever you want to be.
I so agree with you Charles! One reason I enjoy watching Michael Portillo on his TV railway series is the delightful colours he wears for trousers and/or shirts and jackets.
As I have it plants/trees produce loads of berries in dry conditions because lack of water can kill them, so in order to keep their species going they ensure that there are loads of seeds to regenerate new life.
ReplyDeleteoh how interesting! I assume then, because they've had lots of water this year - hence not so many berries? (Either that or they've all built boats and sailed away... LOL)
Delete