By David McCain
A gray November day seems to hang endlessly in the consciousness of the mind. Unwanted cold weather and dead, brown plant material envelops the outdoors. This bleak condition takes over the psyche—the inner mind starts reflecting the outer environment. The day feels weighty and long. The soul—awakened only to a few basic sense impressions—reflects the lessening sun and the surrounding heavy atmosphere of slow, inevitable dissolution and demise.
I used to feel bleak in November, and my description above distills several different layers of thought and reflection on this bleakness. I grew up with this kind of reflection about November. I’m not sure how I got it. Perhaps it came from my own innate temperament. Perhaps it came from family or community members. Perhaps it is an archetype within my broader cultural psyche, and others feel it, too. But several decades ago a significant change in my thinking turned me away from much of my stereotyping of weather related reflection. I saw that nature offers beauty even in its moribund state. There are little signs of energy and life as the fall turns to winter. I have come to think of every day as presenting a new face of nature—something outside that’s exciting and picturesque to be discovered every day.
Nowadays when I take a walk on a gray November day, I like to notice subtle colors and different shades of all colors. Perhaps one red leaf still remaining on a tree draws my attention, and then I notice fallen leaves with curious bleeding of green through yellow into brown. If there has been a heavy frost, I am curious as to which plants are still alive. Along the trail I may notice a tan Solomon’s seal, a favorite early summer wildflower, lying in its dead body state amongst the various browns in the dying vegetation. Death is a part of nature. Thinking of this will likely let me enjoy a little mental uplift about the coming of winter solstice when rebirthing deep within truly starts even before spring comes along.
If I look at a little sparrow, I enjoy its many shades of dusty brown and gray. The chirps of a sparrow or caws of a crow are especially good to hear on a gray November day. I enjoy the magnificence of hearing a crow’s sharp caw nearby, which fades into a distant caw from much farther away as the crow flies off. Then too, natural settings always present curious shapes to observe. That crooked tree branch looks odd when the leaves are gone. Still waters of pools have their interesting reflections. That reflection of a sycamore in the canal shimmers with its white and brown tree trunk patches. If the weather intensifies, I like to feel the raw wind on my face perhaps with rain or the first ice crystals of the season driving fast and stinging my skin. With weather like this I know the heart of winter is not far off.
I generally have a greater preference for the good weather days when nature basks and luxuriates in full life and bold color. November in most years has some days like this with blue skies and puffy clouds. During vacations I have sought out the grand and splendid natural settings that tend to get preserved for their beauty, such as national parks, seashores, etc. But I also have considerable appreciation for the beauty of the smaller, grayer venues of nature which can be had even at the edges of sidewalks in big cities. Nature is scenic and uplifting in its smallest little presentations.
