On Autumn. Or Fall.
Heading into autumn is historically quite complex for me. It was ever thus; the "season of mists and mellow fruitfulness" used to fill me with a desire to flee England's dismal shortening days for milder weather and above all, daylight. I longed, like the migrating birds, to flee to warmer and more comfortable climes. That much at least has changed. Living in California's milder, brighter clime now means that I don't have to fear the coming winter, miss the lighter days or plod around in wet-weather gear just in case it rains.
Now, it means the season of abundance at the Farmer's Market. We're just out of the best bit, with the piles of tomatoes and peppers, crunchy Armenian cucumbers and all those eggplant. (Okay, I know I don't actually like eggplant\aubergine, but I like the look of them.) That said, local apples are beginning to show, so just as I start to miss one crop, another comes along to excite and delight me, not to mention fresh figs, persimmons and goodness, pomegranates! How can anyone not shop at the Market? All those Safeway shoppers don't know what they are missing by buying their "fresh" produce in bags and boxes, shipped year-round from God-knows-where and treated in dreadful ways that a man ought not wot of.
Now, of course, the season saddens me because my Mum died last year, in late October. My memories of last autumn was the same dismal damp I never missed, mixed with the huge aching loss. This year I'm also dealing with Christine's cancer and the grief that's attached to that. But it's not about to drag me South with the autumnal émigré birds.
So what is it? "Autumn" or "Fall"?
Some of my English or British friends still enquire after my dealings with "American English". Some are open to new linguistic ideas, if scorning Noah Webster and his new spellings. Others are more scathing. "Fall", they say, "is an Americanism best done without. Use 'autumn'". These days, I tend to the middle ground. As with my learnings of the subject of the differing sizes of gallon, I find that the truth is that what the Brits say, or have, is frequently of more recent origin. To say that "fall" is inferior, is, O Brits, a wrong thing.
Sorry to tell you this, but the words fall and autumn are relatively new words, at least to describe this season. Their use dates from the 17th century; before that, the season was known as "Harvest". Both words were used alike in America and Britain (or at least, England), though in time, each country developed its own preferences. In fairness though, most Americans know what "autumn" means, and few Brits fail to understand the "fall" season. Of the two, as with the gallon/pint size controversy, the Brits are the ones who gripe most.
Nowadays, I proudly fly the flag of British Difference in many arenas, on many battlefields, and this is yet another of them. I still love you, Harvest season, by any name, but this time, I'm staying where I am.
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