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September 28, 2003
Autumn Leaves? (In Spring)
Apparently today is Michaelmas Day (whatever that is) in the UK and I guess it is now autumn in the Northern Hemisphere. Leaves turning golden and dropping to the ground... Like the idea of a "white Christmas", the meme about autumn leaves is widespread but highly inaccurate in Australia. I was thinking about this as I pulled out the regular quota of gum leaves from the garden. You see, gum leaves are very hard and make terrible compost because they take so long to break down (unless you grind then up first with a shredder). Anyway, getting back to the point, I was thinking about the fact that the number of leaves in the garden is more a reflection of how windy it has been not the season of the year. Of course. if I asked my son when the leaves fall he would tell me about autumn!
Well one thing leads to another and I got thinking about other persistent cultural memes like the silly idea of a white Christmas. When I was growing up, I assumed that the white Christmas story was English but the year I was in Europe changed my mind. We had a fairy tale "Snow on Christmas Eve" (in Austria) but there was very little to be seen in England between Christmas and New Year. Maybe it is an American story but the idea is deeply embraced in the very concept of Christmas with pine trees, sleigh-bells, mistletoe, lanterns, red woollen suits, scarves and hot roast meals. None of that makes sense when the temperature is 40 degrees Celsius in the shade!
I wonder what makes the meme so enduring when it does not apply in so many places. I wonder if children in India or Africa are afflicted with the dream of a white Christmas?
Posted by Ozguru at September 28, 2003 09:09 PM
