indian summer

how queer

there are no green leaves left, the trees are now almost bare with straggling clumps of russet, purple and yellow clinging to their lower branches, giving them a strange half-dressed appearance



over the last four weeks we have had sleet blown by bitingly cold winds, thick freezing morning fogs, below zero temperatures and layers of ice, which we've had to scrape off the car as we shivered under our four layers of clothing

this morning i stepped out and a blast of warm summery air hit me and it was hot enough to sit by the pool again wearing just a pair of swimming shorts - this evening we had to turn on the aircon

it was the strangest sensation to walk at five o'clock in the afternoon through falling leaves with the late autumn sun setting, accompanied by the chirruping of crickets, silent for a month now, and instead of the customary chill cutting through the thick material of jacket and coat, feel the warmth of a balmy early summer evening through a thin t-shirt

it's almost as warm as the night we arrived here three months ago in the humid warmth of a late summer lightning storm