Three weeks past Lughnasadh and the light has already changed its angle. Gold coming an hour earlier. Shadows longer across the red clay by four. Ironweed violent purple in every Georgia ditch and the goldenrod just breaking.
The black gums always turn first. They're turning now, one branch at a time, weeks ahead of the rest of the field — the way some bodies always know before anybody asks them.
And they aren't letting go because they made peace with anything. They're letting go because holding on through the cold would kill them. Release isn't serenity. It's the oldest survival technology on this continent.
Tha an talamh a' cuimhneachadh — the earth remembers.
What's turning early where you are?
#Phenology #Nature #Autumn #Gàidhlig #Gaelic #Druid #Folklore #Georgia #Trees #BloomScrolling #GardensOfMastodon #Photography #Herbalism
