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Mellow Fruitfulness

Northern Autumn, Southern Spring

Bronwen Scott
2 min readOct 3, 2022
Mulberries the birds haven’t found…yet. © Bronwen Scott.

I don’t want to scare anyone but it’s only 89 days to 2023. Where has the year gone?

As the northern hemisphere embraces the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, south of the equator we are moving into spring. Part of the country has turned the clocks forward an hour. This continent of six states and two territories is now on five different time zones. It’s not at all confusing.

No, I’m telling fibs. It is very confusing.

But spring — or what passes for it in the tropics — is here. The days are warm and there are short-lived pulses of humidity that remind me that I am never quite ready for the Wet Season.

In the garden, fat black mulberries are disappearing down the gullets of Australasian Figbirds. No other birds get a chance when they’re around.

These won’t last long! © Bronwen Scott.

The mulberries appeared while I was house-sitting down on the coast. Within three weeks, the scrawny tree had transformed into a feast.

But something else happened while I was away. I accidentally left a potted plant in the dark under the house. I’d put it there to keep it out of the way…

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Bronwen Scott
Bronwen Scott

Written by Bronwen Scott

Zoologist, writer, artist, museum fan, enjoying life in the tropical rainforest of Far North Queensland. She/her. Website: bronwenscott.com

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