the leaves turning

2025 · 09

The big tree by the bench has started going. Not all over at once like you'd picture it, but down one side, like it's still deciding. Week ago it was green. Now one whole flank has gone to rust.

I go that way most mornings and I like watching it make up its mind. Every year I tell myself I'll catch the exact day it turns and every year I only notice after it's already done.

Evenings are pulling in. Caught me out again on Sunday. Set off for the water thinking I had an hour and had maybe forty minutes, came back with the streetlamps just coming on. There's a smell to it this time of year, cold and leaves, that I couldn't put into words but would know anywhere. I go a bit sentimental this time of year and I've stopped fighting it.