Summer leaves

Today, it is Autumn.

Last Tuesday, it wasn`t Autumn. Thursday, it wasn`t Autumn. Yesterday, apparently, it wasn`t Autumn. Today, it`s Autumn.

In England, the year is undecided and vague. It thinks it might be Summer - has a vague feeling it should probably be sunny - but it`s not absolutely certain, so it shrugs, clouds over and rains instead. After that, it`s also pretty sure it should be Autumn, so it gets a little bit colder, a little bit cloudier, and carries on raining. Winter? A little bit colder again, complete cloud coverage, and still raining. What`s supposed to be Spring is just a slow, rainy, cloudy run-up to the indecisiveness of Summer, where it then starts all over again. Seasons in England, therefore, are just temperature differences in rain, and whatever the animals and plants can decide might be the appropriate response to this indecisiveness: abruptly mate, shed leaves, grow leaves, bloom, die. Whenever they think they probably should. Judging by the temperature when it`s not raining, how cold the rain is, and how long daylight hours are (ie: how long they can see the rain for).

It`s not like that in Japan. The year isn`t confused in the slightest. You know it`s spring, because you wake up one day and it`s warm and all the trees are pink. You know it`s rainy season, because it suddenly starts raining and then - when it`s done soaking everything in sight - it stops. It stops raining. Summer is hot and humid, winter is cold and icy. And Autumn? That happens abruptly too. Obediently, methodically and unquestionably. Politely. Just when it`s supposed to.

As a result, Autumn turned up at some time last night. I walked into my living room this morning, and stopped: mid-yawn. The incredible heat and stickiness in the air - there since some time in April, and unbearable since July - have gone: literally disappeared within a few hours. And, almost as promptly, the Summer leaves have started going yellow and dropping. Yesterday, there were no leaves on the floor. Today? There are leaves on the floor. The Summer, as it seems, got up and left. It must have been some kind of night-time Season relay; Summer ran as fast as it could until about 3am, and then it handed the baton over to Autumn who picked it up smoothly and continued the race. At which point Summer bowed out gracefully, and Winter started stretching in the background and running on the spot. Spring - I`m guessing - is now getting dressed in the changing rooms.

I`m thrilled with the change, because it is a change. Casseroles and leaves and golden light and cardigans and socks and all the things missed since last Autumn. And then coats and red noses and twinkly lights and cold hands and all the things missed since last Winter; flowers and birds and butterflies and removal of the coats in Spring, and then another long, hot, flip-flopped summer. The joy of four distinct Seasons.

I miss England, and I`ll miss seeing another English September: miss the beauty of a red and gold wood and conkers and smoke rings and red scarves and squirrels and my Autumnal sister (who has always loved this season the best).

But I won`t miss the rain. And I won`t miss the constant indecision. Like everything else in Japan, the weather here is well behaved: timed perfectly, polite, regimented and reliable. A race that runs smoothly, from Season to Season.

And - for an English person, used to the rain - that makes a beautiful change.