hi something written one October
Today Sunday was a very bright day with the sea a lovely cornflower blue and the waves calmly rolling in. Near the cliffs there is a slight mist of salt spray. Lots of birds are in large flocks on the fields, some feeding on things in the green grass amongst the cattle, some feeding on the grain, for you see some of the crop has been flattened by recent wind and rain. In these fields of gold... Show more
hi something written one October
Today Sunday was a very bright day with the sea a lovely cornflower blue and the waves calmly rolling in. Near the cliffs there is a slight mist of salt spray. Lots of birds are in large flocks on the fields, some feeding on things in the green grass amongst the cattle, some feeding on the grain, for you see some of the crop has been flattened by recent wind and rain. In these fields of gold with the stalks of barley are noisy starlings, and wild pigeons and sometimes greylag geese with orange bills who have flown in from Iceland . A hare starts up and runs off in a stubble field. Only a few flowers now, hawkweed, marguerites, a little clover, cling on. Other flowerheads are dried out and covered in seeds for the little birds.
We have gales and rain for the last 4 days . More geese are flying over our house at night migrating south for the winter. I think they go to the Solway firth in Scotland some go on to England to the Wash on the west coast , and to the Severn area on the east.
The high winds have stripped the leaves from the trees and they lie in great swirls and I like to kick my feet through them as I did when I was a child . There is a poignant feel about autumn . Here where we have so few trees autumn is fleeting, whereas within Scotland you see all the trees change colour.
I disagree about the song the ducks flying (Russian folksong);it is not shallow. Here in Orkney we see the ducks and geese and swans flying in big flocks at this time of year. The deep meaning is the seasons are changing , that the year is ending like the relationship in the song . It is painful and poignant so painful for the girl she does not want to know the reason why her lover has gone . This portrays the feeling of loss at autumn we feel melancholy, older, nearer death; of course this is temporary. The Womens’ Summer as you call it in Russia, or Indian Summer as we call it here is a message from nature, the one the girl longs for.
The message says I (summer) will return . With the first frosts the mood changes - then we are in winter and then we look forward to Christmas, then the miracle, the year turns.
LETYAT UTKI (THE DUCKS) Russian folk song
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The ducks are flying,
the ducks are flying and two geese,
Oh the one I love, the one I love,
I wait in vain for him.
You are far away,
you are far away, where are you?
Oh how beautiful,
How beautiful a message from you would be.
When, my beloved,
When, my beloved, you resolve to forsake me.
Oh do not tell me,
Do not tell me the reason why.
wildgoose
Hey. Sorry its been such a long time.