I know, I know. I yammer about this every year pretty much like clockwork. It’s just that in LA, there’s not much of a weatherly transition from season to season, and I’m always most aware of this – and most disappointed, somehow – when so very little here screams that it’s “fall”.

Yet what always strikes me too (speaking of “clockwork”) is that some mechanism within my bones still seems to make it clear that the summer season has passed. In fairness (and speaking of “screams” and “bones”), I do get a bit of a clue from the Halloween decorations that pop up in my neighborhood – some of them literally – throughout October. And there’s already Christmas stuff up in some stores, which I’m not at all ready to embrace… 

But this is something else. It might be something in the air (even if the air’s still warm), or maybe in my DNA, that makes me want to go hibernate and reminisce about people from throughout my life, and think about the seasons and, really, about time. 

These days, I’ve got a cloud-full of photos and no end of digital rabbit holes into which I can dive to feed that mood. I mean, gone are the days when folks would need an almanac on the shelf to look up the best time to plant a crop. (Um – the days when people said “gone are the days” are probably gone too…) Most of us don’t rely on a rooster to get us going in the morning. And we don’t have to wind our watches anymore – if we even wear them.

Thousands of years ago, back before Greenwich Mean Time and Google and such, measuring seasons and cycles was a rougher gig. Some of humanity’s large-scale efforts at this remain on the landscape – and they serve as reminders of our fierce and fragile need for connection to the earth and to each other. 

For me, the most exquisite timepiece out there (take a hike, Rolex!) has to be Stonehenge:

Afraid my expertise in things “lithic” pretty much begins and ends with the scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark where Indy has trouble writing the word on a blackboard. But I’ll hope it’s correct to describe Stonehenge as a “megalith” – a circle of large stones that was begun more than 4,500 years ago on England’s Salisbury Plain. Its rings were modified over the eras that followed and arranged to line up with sunrise on the Summer Solstice and sunset on the Winter one. 

And we’ve come to find out that Stonehenge isn’t just some solitary mammoth calendar, but that it lies in the heart of a huge complex of features where people came from pretty fair distances to feast and observe religious rites – a hub for celebrating and looking ahead with the living, as well as for burying and revering the dead. 

Stonehenge itself may hold more secrets still. Like people have been experimenting with the acoustic properties of the stones to see how they might have enhanced the ceremonial vibe. And the English Heritage website asks: “Stonehenge is famous for its alignment with the sun, but did you know that the ancient monument may have also been carefully designed to align with the movements of the Moon?” Coolly, the website’s Skyscape camera allows you to view the skies through this megalithic lens and conduct your own observation of the heavens! My last trip to Stonehenge was 1991 – and I’d love to see the major updates to the experience that have been added since!

I’ve also been lucky enough to hop over to Ireland’s County Meath where I got to visit another sacred spot that famously marks the seasons! Overlooking the Boyne Valley lies the passage tomb of Newgrange:

 One of three burial mounds there (the other two are Knowth and Dowth), Newgrange was built more than 5,000 years ago, making it older than Stonehenge and the Pyramids of Egypt too! This tomb is aligned with the sun so that during the Winter Solstice, light travels through its entrance (if Irish clouds are smiling) and illuminates the central passage. Each year, a lottery is held to give a few lucky winners the chance to witness this event from inside the chamber on one of the few December days it takes place.

Not far from Newgrange, the Hill of Tara anchors another ancient collection of monuments and mounds:

These green and rolling hills are legendary for holding the Seat of Irish Kings. There’s the Lia Fáil – the Stone of Destiny – where it’s said if a would-be king placed his foot on it, the stone would roar to confirm a rightful ruler.  It’s also known for being the place where St. Patrick challenged Ireland’s pagan underpinnings and spread his message of Christianity.

Here too, about 5,000 years ago, the passage tomb Dumha na nGiall – the Mound of the Hostages – was erected:

A burial site for centuries, this one was built so that its passage is lit by the sun on two Celtic “cross quarter days”. As I understand (again, about as much as I do “lithic”-ally…), one date is Samhain – a time between the Autumn Equinox and the Winter Solstice. The other is Imbolc, at a mid-point between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. 

That’s just a wee survey of the stone marvels I’ve been fortunate enough to see so far – really hope I can check out more! Meanwhile, as the days grow shorter, I can’t say I’ll be hefting any rocks around to acknowledge the change. Nope – no dramatic beam of sunlight will stream into my apartment at some appointed hour – it would only illuminate all the dust I missed, anyway… 

But even though I have no crops to lay in store, or lambs to tend, there are hints of the dates and duties that were “set in stone” so long ago that still resonate with me in one way or another during these contemplative fall days:

It’s certainly “tradition” for me to change my clocks (“fall back”) for Daylight Savings.

I won’t be making a pilgrimage to Stonehenge, but I’ve taken two wonderful weekend road trips this month to connect with friends from both my college years and my tween-age ones – kinda like harvesting old memories and sewing the seeds of new ones! 

Being closer to LA’s Bunker Hill than Ireland’s Hill of Tara, the only kings I’ll be following are the Los Angeles Kings whose hockey season has just begun. 

I’ve contributed photos of departed family for a Día de los Muertos ofrenda (having already weighed in on favorite foods!). 

I’ll be “attending” church online where, as was done last November for Mum, I’ll watch as the name of each saintly member who passed away within the year is recited to the single and solemn chime of a bell. 

And as it sadly happens, I’ll be gathering up memories of a lovely friend (and ever-gentle reader) who I’ve known all my life and who passed away only this week…

Well, I could come up with more harbingers of the season but, lucky for all of us I think, an alarm on my phone is alerting me that it’s time to follow another tradition. Since this is Samhain – I mean, Halloween – I’m going to hang out at the top of a friend’s driveway, eat chili and greet all kinds of darling neighborhood Trick-or-Treaters! A dirty job, but traditions do need to be kept up!

So I’ll just wrap things up with best wishes to you for however you welcome the season – and I’ll be back within the passage of another month’s time!

Cheers!