This weekend in Scotland, the clocks go back. For me, as I’m sure for many of you, this point in the year is often unaccountably difficult: a moment when I’m forced into acknowledgment of winter’s approaching dark. I’ve often made things worse for myself by recalling, as October draws to a close, the details of previous seasonal depressive episodes, and feeling a familiar terror about the potential of feeling low again in coming months. But such anticipatory anxieties really are completely pointless, and I’ve got much better at fending them off in recent years. I’ve found that the best thing I can do is to just ignore the clocks-going-back hibernating impulse, and instead to get outside as much as possible. Because, out there, at this time of year there is a lot of light and colour to enjoy.
Autumn is really one of the best times of year to enjoy the Scottish landscape. There’s no ice or snow to contend with, and the bracken is quickly dying back, making walking so much easier . . .
. . .and adding a glorious wash of bronze and russet to the hills.
The changing seasonal colours of the tree canopy are unarguably stunning.
Only in the fading months of the year can you enjoy a golden (silver) birch, lit from within . . .
. . . or appreciate how the glens open up with light and colour as their trees are stripped bare of leaves.
I enjoy the shifting forms of all trees at this time of year, from the deciduous birch, and beech, and oak . . .
. . .to the stately evergreen Scots pine . . .
. . . and even the lone, familiar snag trees, white and bare against the golden brown.
All of these photographs were taken by Tom during our Autumn trips to Wester Ross: a place that’s guaranteed to raise my seasonal spirits!
It’s going to be fun spending time again in Wester Ross in coming weeks, through all of the patterns, essays and photographic explorations we’ve created for our new project!
One of the things I enjoy so much about our clubs — and am especially looking forward to with this one — is the opportunity to share the landscapes that I love with all of you.
If you’d like to join us for Knitting Wester Ross, there’s just a few days to sign up (we need to close subscriptions at the end of the month to allow us to complete all of our behind-the-scenes admin in good time before the first pattern lands).
And returning to the positive effects of outdoor light and colour upon the moods of those of us adversely affected by the clock change, there’s lots of good research-based evidence to support this (particularly here in Scotland), as discussed in this excellent series on BBC radio 4. I’m off out to clear leaves and plant bulbs in the garden this afternoon: will you be getting outside too?
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