Clouds…
I love this time of the year. In the South west, it’s Djeran- the season before winter comes, which in the northern hemisphere is Autumn or Fall. For the Wadandi people of the Noongar nation, it’s 2 months in the 6 season annual calendar, that is the Season of Adulthood. Not much is flowering in the understory in the forests, but the trees, especially the very important red gum Marri (Corymbia calophylla), is flowering overhead. The local Hakea laurina is budding up, magpies are warbling and finally we get some much needed rain after months of dry. I can literally feel the trees taking a big breath out and relaxing after being semi snoozing and very quiet over Bunuru - the second Summer. We have had very little rain and so it’s been wonderful to have a week of soaking water and incredible dramatic clouds overhead, and to now see little patches of green appear everywhere. It doesn’t take long for the landscape to start to change and for the new shades of green to replace the pale straw grasses. It’s also wonderful to experience the change in temperature, feeling cooling breezes on your cheeks when you walk, and smell the petrichor rising from the steaming warm earth. It it a happy smell thinking of all of those microbes waking up and working wonders with our senses and our bodies, as well as helping the forests and plants.
All around it’s joyful to see everything growing and enjoying the sunshine in between the patches of rain. The soils are still warm and the sun still has plenty of warmth, so it’s a joyful time to be in nature watching everything ‘waking up’, or getting ready to head into some quiet time over Makuru (the coming winter).
Everything that was dusty, crunchy and yellow is now washed clean and ready for the sun to pop out from behind cool clouds. I adore the clouds this time of year, and it’s definitely a good time of the year to cloud watch. Sunsets are often particularly spectacular, lots of drama in the skies above. Find a comfy dry spot and just gaze at the skies above the trees, or at the ocean, taking in all that movement and colour and hues of grey, looking for shapes and patterns, or just watching the different types of clouds as they float by.
Cloud watching , puddle jumping, taking in the rich petrichor smells whilst walking in bushland , and looking for early fungi spores emerging from the earth are some fun ways to practice simple Shinrin Yoku this month. Soak in all of that rich warm earth and happy vegetation.
In gardens with deciduous trees, the signs of Autumn are all around- leaves changing colour, yellowing or turning orange and red, and gently falling, as the trees preparing for their rest over winter. Tossing them in the air, studying them up close and even rolling around in them , allowing yourself to become a child again in nature is another Djeran Shinrin Yoku activity you can practice these next few months. It’s fun to collect the leaves, sketch or paint them and see how much the colours change as the days go by.
It’s also a wonderful opportunity to find a deciduous tree and sit with it (her /him) for a while. When you feel like it, ask what it is like to let go of all that was the last year. Just- gently and freely, letting go of everything- letting it literally, all fall away...
Imagine!
Whatever you engage in remember it’s not time yet to hibernate, so get out there and take in nature as much as you can. It’s time to dust off the hiking boots and the rain jackets and go have some fun. Nature is waiting to play with you!
Happy Djeran!
Jacquie
