Welcome to As the Season Turns, the podcast following each month of the year.

As the hedgerows change, the full moons come and go, and nature takes its course in the garden.

I'm Leila Lander as a nature writer and author of The Almanac, a seasonal guide.

This podcast is brought to you by Fern, makers of small batch organic natural perfume,

who blend, barrel age and bottle four fragrances a year, released at the equinoxes and solstices.

We hope that this brief guide to what to look for in the month ahead will awaken you to the rhythms of the year and help you, in the words of the poet Ray Carver, settle deeper into the seasons.

It's November. Some months are jolly and fun, all sunshine, rainbows and roses.

November is not one of those.

Winter is creeping in, yes, but it is more than that.

Historically, November has had strong associations with mourning.

There is all Hallow Mass to begin with, encompassing all saints and all souls days on the first and second of November,

when it is traditional to remember all of the Christian saints and all of those who have died in the past year.

And then on the 11th of November we remember and mourn those who died in the two wars that

still looms so large in our collective imaginations, and hopefully spare a thought for those

killed in the many other wars since.

November's full moon was once called the Morning Moon.

I think it's really interesting that we have this

pause in the year, this moment of reflection and somberness just before the explosion of light

and joy and sparkles that comes in December. It feels necessary somehow and I can only

encourage you to go with it. If you feel a bit blue this month,

that's okay. There will be jollier times. November was made for pulling on your

comfiest jumper, sipping tea and eating chocolate biscuits while staring out of the rain

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