Brim full of mist
The neighbours are now back in 20 layers of wool and move seamlessly to complaining about the cold – “çok soğuk!” – from complaining about the heat – “çok sıcak!” – because Turks freeze at less than 26 degrees Celsius.
The village children are being shoe horned into their winter vests and cheerfully wear home knitted tank tops that you would have been burnt at the stake rather than wear in 1976.
The dogs have moved from their summer positions under the ceiling fans to their autumn positions curled deep in indentations in their bean bags. They will spend winter hogging the fire.
The goats are growing their winter coats and are getting shaggy and curly bearded.
Nick gets his jeans out because his knees are cold and looks ten years younger because he has an inside leg measurement of 36 – British men rarely look good in shorts!
The pool temperature drops eight degrees in a week but is still two degrees warmer than the sea is around the UK at its warmest.
You run out of storage space for towels because you are no longer using six a day. A girl should always know where her towel is, currently mine are everywhere.
You close the French doors for the first time since April.
The cyclamen that snoozed all dried up and tiny all summer starts to grow at a frantic pace.
The geraniums give one last flourish of pink.
The price of logs gets discussed more than the price of property.
When you wake up in the morning the valley is brim full of mist with just the slim spires of the cypresses spiking through the fog.
Your thoughts turn from crunchy salads with tangy dressings to pies and broths and what you can do with twenty kilos of pumpkin.
Any second now someone is going to give you a string of quince and you’re going to have to be grateful.
The biting flies, determined for one last mouthful of flesh before the cold kills them, dive bomb you in ravenous squadrons. If you’re going to get bitten or stung now is the time.
The days appear to zoom by as the gaps between the calls to prayer get shorter as the nights draw in.
There is the usual debate about if and when the clocks will go back, Turkey is confused on this issue and debates and decides and then changes its mind annually. It really wants to be GMT +2.5 but that makes things tricky.
Just before dawn, in the darkest part of night, when the stars are so bright they burn your eyes, the turning year sends crystal clear Orion striding across the view from my bedroom window. I have a very soft spot for Orion; it’s nice to see him again.
Oh joy to read, smile at and draw parallels with life here. It’s not quite as extreme but still recognisable…it’s the way you tell ’em!
Axx
We dusted down the slippers and slipped them on. Outside cigarette breaks now last about 10 seconds.
Great points! Yesterday I had a call from a friend I haven’t seen in a few months. She said she was hoping to get together over the summer, “but now it is winter!” Cok Soguk!
. . walking again after the summer hibernation.
Hell yes, emerging blinking from our air conditioned summer caves into the gentle sunlight of Autumn, nice to have heat that doesn’t feel like a hammer blow to the skull. Karen
Great stuff Karen. Your description brought a smile to my otherwise miserable countenance, although it is still about 10degrees warmer there than in UK.
Pumpkins!: Saute some onions until translucent. Add a kilo or two of chopped pumpkin and keep stirring. Add meat or chicken broth, 1/2 a can of coconut milk and a pinch of ground nutmeg. Puree. Serve in hollowed out bowls of bread with lots of ground pepper.
Lovely post! I think it’s a real shame that the Türks seem to dismiss and by pass autumn. I think it’s a lovely season, instead of enjoying the steady decline of temperatures they seem so eager to settle into the “misery” of winter. If they appreciated autumn more their winter “hell” would be so much shorter!
Yep being able to go into the kitchen and use it as such, when in August was only an aid to exfoliation and scrub hotter than any Hamam in a 2 mile radius, now I can eat!!! Lovingly seeking out and caressing my two-armed sofa blanket in readiness for the hibernation. Does anyone know where I can purchase a “one-foot” slippper? I love winter!!!!!!!!!!!
Gorgeously descriptive as ever, Karen. I grinned when I read about the Turks reaction to cooler weather. When I was in Prague recently, the temperature was still in the low 20s, but the Czechs were already putting on sweaters and even coats! I felt hot just looking at them. I also got bitten more than I did all summer. 🙁
DH and I love autumn – in fact we like all the seasons, but there’s just something about the elegiac mistiness and dwindling light which appeals to us both.