Late Autumn is the name of a film by Ozu, who often named his films after seasons: Late Spring, Early Spring, Early Summer (despite being best known for Tokyo Story). Western culture doesn’t usually draw such fine distinctions between the seasons, but country life has sharpened my sensitivity to the differences between the early, late, and mid of any given season. Late autumn is a particularly delicate time of year--often gray, an impression heightened (so to speak) by the tall bare deciduous trees all around us. But within that grayness, muted splashes of color still abound. Baby trees, with perhaps only a dozen leaves, are bright red or yellow. Weeds, touched by frost, color up. The fuzzy, cream-colored tops of goldenrod gone gray nod in the fields and white splashes of milkweed seeds unfurl. Juncos settle on the fields to enjoy the weed seeds and fly up when startled, darting and tumbling like a gust of leaves in a fall wind. They, too, are gray with a striking splash of white on their tails, which fan out when they fly.
With trees and bushes bare, I can better see the contours of the Mill Brook and down into the mini-gorge below the dam: the ancient retaining walls, crumbled cabins, and abandoned machinery, covered in rust and fallen leaves.
Late autumn brings hunting to Massachusetts, and last year we discovered a refugee in our backyard, a male pheasant unable to find his way past the new fence that cut off the back fields from the front. He walked up and down the fence, staying close to the gate as if he knew that was the way out if only it would magically open. He seemed not to think about other options. He could have flown out or gone back the way he came, but he apparently felt strongly about walking through the gate. We watched him for some time, sure he would momentarily take to the air, but he stayed stubbornly by the fence. Steve grabbed a camera and, coming quite close, photographed him, then took pity and opened the gate. Magic at last! Our bird strode through the opening and only then took flight.