19th November from the West Cliff Green, Bournemouth
The residents of the West Cliff Green have become so used to warm days and nights even at the height of the fierce storms that they’re taken by surprise when the temperature drops below zero in the night. But as soon as the sun is over the horizon it is cutting through the chill and is soon reflecting its warmth off the placid sea. The still air is sharp enough. There is no wind and there is a remarkable stillness to the day. It is deeply quiet and the tranquility is almost palpable. There are plenty of walkers and sitters and all have their coats unbuttoned and they speak with low voices as if in a church. Quiet reigns and the little waves are small and respectful. It is a perfect Autumn day. Squirrels dash about mining the leaf litter for their acorn stores that they can have only buried days ago. A great tit follows from branch to branch just out of reach making a tuneless rattly sound before it swoops low across the path. Suddenly, with the sound of a thousand angry wasps, twenty or thirty jetskis appear from round the pier and begin beating up the surf, zig zagging backwards and forwards across the shallows where people were swimming minutes before. And as soon as the sun heads west by mid afternoon we are reminded of the sharp cold.
From 19th November 2021
Unrelenting, unbroken, homogenous grey overhead with only the smallest gap for the sun to shine through on the Southern horizon. The Autumn has been long and samey with only occasional breaks for a few hours of warm sun some afternoons. But it is definitely chillier today. Trees and bushes are only now getting into full autumn gold and red. The gulls are still in eclipse plumage but the crows have a glossy green and purple sheen to their feathers and the magpies are crisply black and white with a bright blue polish to their wings. Smaller birds are rustling and twittering in the undergrowth maybe preparing themselves for the cold to come. #Bournemouth #WestCliff #Autumn #november
