The Seasons
April / May
In Melbourne, Autumn arrives during April/May - with its wonderful unexpected sunshine and unbelievably beautiful light. The hills and coastal plains below us will be bleached dry by the summer sun and the hot winds from the north. We can expect some extraordinarily beautiful warm days and April can be the loveliest of months. The mornings are cool and quiet and the light is soft and made hazy by the early morning dampness. We experience some majestic calm sunsets and soft meditative nights which are seemingly wrapped in a smooth warmth.
Late in the month of April, Summer sheds off its cloak of warmth and Autumn is suddenly upon us. The coastal plain below turns green from the Autumn rains. The trees turn golden and russet and walking is a joy, scuffling in the fallen mantle of leaves. May arrives with the early evening trails of smoke hanging in the air to ward off the chilly nights. There is almost a sadness about the land as the trees stretch their naked limbs skywards but we also have some beautiful sunny brisk days. During one of my lunchtime walks I was thrilled to see my first ‘wild’ platypus playing in a nearby creek. It was hard to pull myself away from watching him and set my feet on their return journey to work.
