When darkness falls

This is another post on seasonal changes. Autumn is definitely at the door, I witnessed it this evening, when I looked outside: at 8:00PM it was still sunny a week ago, yet the shadows were growing longer and longer. What made it more striking is that unlike last year the temperature was quite chilly (as it has been these last few days). The evening falling, mixed with the less than summery weather, made me feel like in autumn.

I consider that autumn starts with the month of September, not on the 21st. It appears that it came earlier this year, or at least it is giving a foretaste of things to come. I will spend some time tomorrow moving clothes from the shelves. One has to be prepared.

Lights, shadows and the beauty of a May evening

I took this picture last Sunday, when we were coming back from a weekend away. There was this tree (don't know which species), the sun lights were going through the leaves and branches and crows were crowing and flying around. My wife and I found it very picturesque and we decided to take a few snapshots.

As I mentioned before, I love the mix of lights and shadows and this tree was giving us a perfect blend of it. Beauty has sometimes an almost brutal way to show itself. We have passed this tree often before, on many occasions, yet we never noticed it. We needed the right circumstances.

I wish the crows could have been visible on the picture. I used to dislike them as a kid, now for some reason I grew fond of them. There is something soberly elegant about them, even their crowing.

A long, dark night

Yesterday, we got a complete blackout from 5:00PM(ish) to the early hours of the morning. I got the title for this post from the neighbour, who came to warn us to "be prepared for a long dark night". So that was a major blackout. Of course I have known major blackouts in my life, sometimes in spectacular circumstances (like this one or that one). But one never gets used to extended ones like the one we just had.

Of course, when it happens, it is an inconvenience that illustrates how much we are dependent on technology. That said, it was not totally devoid of charm. We were lucky enough to have plenty of candles and it proved quite useful: we could lit the room and it gave us just enough light to read a bit. Of course, the mix of shadows and candlelight made the flat very atmospheric. The blackout also made us (re)discover the neighbours and appreciate them. Strange that it is easier to start a conversation when you share the same problems. So the long, dark night was not all bad. That said, we sure could do without another one.