The autumn has arrived

24th of September 2017

The autumn has arrived here in Penela in Portugal, with all its glory.

I love this time of the year. After a hot summer the cold breeze is soothing like a healing hand.

The clear sky is covered with pictures. Blue and grey is dominating. What wonders are there? Who lives in the sky? Where do they come from? Why do they go away?

When sitting at my computer, writing, I look up and out through my door. What a beauty. I have to share this with you . The beauty can not be put into words. You have to see it for yourself.

This is autumn in all its grace and glory. The autumn in my home town and the clock is almost half past six and the evening gliding in.

Yesterday I drove to Taveiro. I needed to get a big ball to sit on. My body is needing some pampering. I had already bought a blue one but my legs are terrible long and the blue one was not big enough. I needed the orange one, and off I went.

While driving through the highway I noticed the trees. There are trees everywhere here in my country. They are ever green and they are grapevine and olive trees and just ordinary trees. Here in the centre of the tiny country, where I live, the trucks are slim and I sometimes wonder how they can survive the storms, but they do. They somehow sway back and forth. I have seen it when looking from my balcony. In the north the trucks are bold and strong, protecting themselves and the branches from the cold winter. Different in the south also. There the trees are smaller. The cork is there. A beautiful tree which takes ages to grow but when it is there it´s of great value. I love the cork. Nowadays we make all kinds of things from the cork. Bags, purses, shoes and even umbrellas.

When I was in Taveiro yesterday I took some photos of the trees around the retail park. Some are colourful, some are just tired and want to rest, some need water, the truth is they all need water. I love them all. They make me happy. Those trees are safe. They will not be burned down by arsenics. Their beauty will still be there next year.

While driving yesterday I noticed that cleaning was over. There were huge gaps but no black horror. Next year we will find some new tiny tiny shoots. They are strong and the roots are deep.

Here in Penela there were big fires 5 years ago (or maybe 6 years ago). Yesterday I noticed that the new grow is already a meter high and smiling happily. This years disaster is still black and sad but during the winter we will burn the wood that is left and everything will be clean for the coming spring.

But now it is autumn. My favourite season with the colours and beauty that no other season has.

The winters are cold here in my land. Very cold. We think that Portugal is  always warm but that is before we move here. Just as in my beloved Chine. The summers are extremely hot and the winters extremely cold.

Is this maybe something like life. Sometimes very happy and other times really sad? Could it be?

It crossed my mind while driving yesterday and contemplating on the beauty in front of me, how miserable those who make life take a turn to the worse for others, are. How the guilty feeling must be eating them up and they try to justify their actions by blaming the others.

Taking responsibility for ones actions is freedom. Freedom that includes the gift of beauty and ability to enjoy the life ahead.

Hulda Björnsdóttir