Climate Chaos and Fall Colors

In Moscow this year, осень (autumn) began in late June, and nature got so confused that fall mushrooms were popping up in July, and mice were making nests three months early.

Yet despite the abnormal weather, by the calendar, autumn in Russia consists of three months: сентябрь (September); октябрь (October); and ноябрь (November). I guess when the Romans got around to naming them, they’d run out of leaders and gods to glorify, and so just called them the seventh, eighth and ninth months.

But Russians don’t mind. They call it золотая осень (golden autumn) for the leaves that turn a bright vibrant yellow, like nature’s last treat before winter.

In Russian, September originally had several names, including хмурень (murky, from хмурый – gloomy or overcast); and ревун (howler, weeper for those rainy days). Сентябрь — это вечер года (September is the evening of the year). September is full of weather portents, such as: Если в сентябре много желудей, то значит, зима будет суровая (If there are a lot of acorns in September, the winter will be harsh). 

September is the month when everything that has been cut, picked, gathered, dug up, or shaken down needs to be dried, pickled, buried in sand, and put away in the погреб (root cellar) for the winter.

These rituals of putting by are a possible source of the phrase бабье лето (Indian summer, but literally “women’s summer”), those few days of warm weather that usually appear toward the end of the month. That’s just one theory. The most likely explanation is that it’s пора, когда на осеннем солнце ещё могут погреться старые женщины (a time when old women can still get warm in the autumn sun). Yet another explanation is that women joined together to store the harvest, and the merriment of working together made it a “summer for women.” A fourth explanation is that women use their mystical powers to bring back summer. This year, we certainly wished for mystical powers.

Октябрь had several names, depending on the region, including листопад (leaf fall) and грязник (muddy month).  Although September is the in-between month, October is known for its unpredictable weather: В октябре и дождь и снег, одновременно ходят (In October you’ve got rain and snow falling at the same time). Земля в октябре покрывается листком, а то и снежком (In October the earth is covered by leaves or even snow). The month also has some very exact weather forecasts, such as this one: С какого числа в октябре ударят морозы, с такого числа в апреле следующего года начнётся тёплая погода (The date in October when the temperatures first fall below freezing is the same date in April of the next year when warm weather will begin). 

Move over, Метео-ТВ (Meteo-TV); we’ve got Примета-Радио (Weatherlore-Radio)! 

Way back in the very old days, ноябрь (November) was known as грудень from the грудки земли (frozen clumps of earth) that the month is renowned for. It’s the month with the first snowfalls that stick, which is, it turns out, a good thing: Много снега – к богатому хлебу (Abundant snow brings a bounty of grain).

When the cold weather is settling in, folks mark синицын день (chickadee day). On November 12, it’s time to start putting out bird seed and сало (suet) for your feathered friends. It’s also the day when you can ask the chickadees: Сбудется ли задуманное, далеко ли счастье?  (Will my dreams come true, and is happiness near?).

Unfortunately, folk wisdom doesn’t tell us how to interpret their replies.