On the Cusp of Midsummer

"Are you sure that we are awake? It seems to me that yet we sleep, we dream." - William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Welcome to The Autumn Chronicles, a place to shine a light on all the wonder around us as we navigate the seasons. I hope these writings allow you to sit quietly with a cup of something warm and comforting and take a few moments for yourself away from the rush and hurry. If you would like to make sure you get all newsletters directly to your inbox, please subscribe below. Thank you for being here. All photos © The Autumn Chronicles.

Midsummer approaches. The paths are verdant; frothy white heads of cow parsley brush my legs as I walk. Sunlight the colour of citrine bleeds across the sky like molasses, lazy, unhurried. Peonies unfurl, ruffled petals open in welcome against air scented with jasmine and hope. A blackbird sings its vespers towards the encroaching dusk and I let this requiem for the day soothe me to stillness.

The earth remembers the warmth of summers past. It hums with life; its awakening lingers on as the wheel upswings. The zenith draws near, swollen and mellow with its sultry heat and with it, summer will begin its unclasping as the light gently withers.

My thoughts turn to wildflowers and picnics, to standing in the glow of a sunbeam or sleeping under the stardust of a sapphire sky; small freedoms offered by this time of expansion. I let the zoetrope of previous summers play on a never-ending loop, memories skittering like stones across the pellucid surface of a lake: the drone of a bee, petrichor after summer rain, estival light that shimmers like champagne and the tickle of a bead of sweat born of humidity and silence.

Yet, in the air ghosts a whisper of autumn.

Early horse chestnut carcasses litter the pavement, russet orbs descend from the branches of crab apple trees and flowers of blush and cream adorn the bramble, foreshadowing tales of its ripening.

I am not ready.

I have blossomed in the sunlight.

If you have enjoyed this post or if something has resonated with you, please share to help others find The Autumn Chronicles. I am so grateful to you for being here and for choosing to read these words.