The Turning Year - Field notes for September

The Turning Year is a monthly collection of moments to notice, savour and celebrate as the natural year unfolds and as the seasons turn.

After the intense heat of the summer we begin to shift towards cooler morning temperatures and appreciate the fading golden light during September. It’s a month where we hold two seasons, as late summer gently fades into autumn. We can appreciate the cusp of change and remember what gentle change can feel like. 

There will still be warm days, soft golden sunlight, and we can begin to appreciate the beautiful sunrises and the sunsets. There are flowers still in bloom, leaves only now beginning to turn, and seeds are ready to be gathered.

I adore this mix of late summer with early autumn and use this month to lean into the energy of both seasons. I gather ideas and inspiration, make plans and begin to take action, refresh rhythms and appreciate the fresh start energy that comes with cool mornings and that September feeling.

Each month I create a monthly collection of things to notice, savour and celebrate as the natural year unfolds and the seasons turn. Woven into life are our experiences of the season and what we see in the natural world.

I create a set of ‘field notes’ of things I want to notice, seek out, savour and celebrate in the month. It helps me ground into the month and the turning year. Pausing at the start of the month has become part of a rhythm I enjoy and make intentional space for, it helps me think of ways I can connect to the seasonal wisdom I can see in nature. My field notes are prompts I come back to and explore in my journal, and with my camera, and act as a reminder of the nourishing things I can appreciate and hold gratitude for in the month ahead.

Creating a set of notes acts as a gentle reminder of seasonal observations, things I want to remember to connect my senses with, and things to think about as the month unfurls. It feels playful, a little poetic and helps me looking at the bigger themes I can draw from the month and also the small details I want to intentionally notice.

These are my notes to help me ground into the month of September, holding the ending of the summer season and the start of autumn. 

Field notes for September

A month of appreciating the softening golden light.

Late summer gently fades into autumn.

The autumn equinox reminds us balance is fleeting and slow changes feel comforting.

Apples, elderberries and blackberries are gathered.

Delicious crumbles and preserves are made with love.

Sedums, dahlias and salvias continue to bloom.

Leaves begin to change colour. New chapters are quietly welcomed.

Fresh start energy creates space for gentle resets, new rhythms and plans to form.

It’s a month to create space for both endings and beginnings.

Wherever you are in the world you can create your own field notes for the month. Find a small notebook and start thinking about what notes you want to make about your seasonal noticings, the things you choose to savour and appreciate in the month and any celebrations you want to make a note of.

Creating a moment each month to look forwards can help you shape your month intentionally, create a seasonal living practice which can feel nourishing and add a rhythm to your month as it begins. Your field notes for the month can be used for years to come, and provide you with a record of your observations of life. In the future these seasonal moments might begin to shift. For now though these field notes can serve a purpose for you and can be added to year after year.