I came across a post by a fellow Pole, Sylwia on her personal blog, in which she extols the virtues and the beauty of “The Golden Polish Autumn”. Yes, such a phrase exists and is usually applied to the period between early and mid-October, when you are lucky to have a few sunny days and when Polish forests and parks burst with fabulous colours – reds, yellows and browns. All very nice, all very cosy and romantic.
Most Polish people will tell you that it’s the best thing ever. Hence the name for it.
But Sylvia’s post made me realise that in fact last weekend was equally nice, warm and golden here, in London. Even last night coming back from work, I was wading though a sea of golden leaves covering the pavement and the street where I live like a multi-coloured, multi-textured blanked. So is The Golden Polish Autumn such an exceptional phenomenon? Er, no, not really.
As much as I love and miss it, I have to acknowledge that this time of the year is probably equally spectacular and romantic in many other parts of the world. Leafy yellow-and-golden New Hampshire, for example, with its white church spires might compete with Poland’s green-and-golden wild Bieszczady Mountains. Buckinghamshire, Surrey – in fact, anywhere in the northern hemisphere you can now find an amazing display of colours, helped by the warmth of the autumn sunshine (if you’re lucky, that is).
So why are we so obsessed with this Golden Polish Autumn? Well, one thing you need to know about Poles is that it’s mostly a romantic nation. When presented with such a display of colours, we’ll walk with our shoes in the golden leaves and our heads in the clouds, breathing in the autumn air, and simply daydreaming…
So the Polish Golden Autumn in itself is probably not that much different from any other autumn. It’s just us – we’re such a romantic and such a sentimental lot…
Image © korczynski via Flickr used under CC licence
No related posts.
Loading ...
