As the cold north winds whip little leaf-devils, sweeping dried leaves skittering into corners, they also brush aside our last vestiges of summer past, reducing it to fading memories of warm light and life. It definitely feels more and more like the winter that was “just around the corner.” Because of fall we get to work our way gradually into the cold season, getting used to the idea of what is ahead. Imagine the disaster if there was no fall, if summer went directly to winter — what a shock that would be! Thank goodness for autumn. Some years we have an Indian Summer — a usually short period of rewarming after the first hard frost.
Fauna
Since the Last Moon much has gradually (and not-so-gradually) changed. Finally the last straggling monarchs escaped to their Michoacán winter-forest as their milkweeds spread their parachute-like seeds and more and more other insects have faded out (a few of them will emerge on a warm day in sunny spots — various moths, house-flies and lady-beetles, for instance). The cricket chorus now consists strictly of crickets and they are increasingly sluggish. The last of the green darner dragonflies have mostly dragon-flown out of here for sunnier climes. Haven’t seen any of our large rodents lately — cottontail rabbits (actually, they are lagomorphs — having slightly different skeletal features than rodents) and woodchucks, though we have plenty of grey- and red squirrels. There is never a dearth of the small rodents like chipmunks, deer — and white-footed mice and meadow voles. Our moles and short-tail shrews happen to also be lagomorphs, not rodents, classified in the Mammalian order Eulipotyphla, though I’m sure it matters not to my neighborhood red fox exactly what type of small creature he is eating (do rodents taste different from lagomorphs?). Our bear issues continue as they search for human food to try to replace the mediocre acorn and beechnut crops this year. Remember, please, how much black bear love birdseed and can smell it literally for miles with their best-of-all-mammals extraordinary sense of smell, so maybe still wait to put out the bird-feeders. DEC recommends November 30 at the earliest to do so. Our wintering red-shouldered- and red-tail hawks are around. The crows seem to bicker over, well, everything. As the crows totally freak out when a hawk enters their territory and try to mob them (usually unsuccessfully), the hawk seems to just shrug, as if to say “whatever” and then may, or may not, move on. At least one Great Blue Heron still persists and the wild turkeys are starting to gather in thickets for the winter, keeping wary eyes on local eastern coyotes.
Gate between opens
To the ancient Celts the first of November was Samhain (pronounced sow-win), the beginning of the New Year, the time of Rebirth, regeneration (not generation, which is spring-time). This also coincided with harvest-time in northern Europe and the sign of Scorpio. Also, it is precisely the mid-point between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice — the exact complement to May first, Beltane, the Spring Fire Festival (exactly six months previous) which celebrated birth. In astrology, the bull is the symbol of May, the time of the generation of life. Interestingly, this was the same correlation the Sumerians made and in addition, they had four symbols for Scorpio, with the spirit re-generating from the scorpion through the serpent, to the phoenix, then to the Eagle — the highest of all. Note the difference between this and the modern, static and overly sexual interpretation of Scorpio. Celts believed that at this time the Gate Between the Worlds opened and the spirits of the ancestors were free to roam among the living and they celebrated this time as a time to rejoice, celebrating the harvest (the new) and remembering those that had gone on before (the old). It wasn’t until Christianity came along that death became a bad, evil thing, something to be feared. Most ancients accepted death as being an important part of life. I think it is a very interesting coincidence (if it is) that the primordial Aztecs celebrated this same time in such a similar way with their Day of the Dead.
Please stay warm and safe.
“Ranger” Dave Holden / (845)594-4863 / woodstocktrails@gmail.com / Dave Holden on Facebook / rangerdaveholden on Instagram / woodstocknytrails.com.
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