The Fall is Upon Us – Autumn has Arrived

By whichever name you say it, the final temperate season of the Gregorian calendar year has arrived.

Autumn, a.k.a. fall, has confirmed our (conscious or subconscious) awareness of the changing light of day. Sunrise seems delayed, while sunset falls on the horizon more quickly than yesterday, and the day before. 

fallen leaves of autumn

A week ago, Monday 23 September—whether or not the fall of leaves had begun in a particular area—the fall of the year began its official season north of the equator.

After summer's daily extensions of daylight time, the September equinox has changed our experience yet again, for a moment in time. 

More formally regarded as autumn, the impressionistic "fall" season was conferred its name as long and far ago as 16th-century England—a result of the progression of Indo-European–Germanic language upon Continental Europe.

Eventually, lingual usage of "fall" declined in Europe, but not before its favor and subsequent travel to the North American continent during the 17th-century period of English emigration to the North American British colonies; where, perhaps due to the proliferation of land forested with trees and their autumn leaves all across the eastern U.S., the name most like the perception of falling leaves remained.

Wishing you all a happy fall, of bountiful harvest. 

REFERENCES:

"Autumn Vs. Fall." Grammarist – English Grammar, Grammar Rules and Tips – English Grammar, Usage, and Style Blog, grammarist.com/usage/autumn-fall/.

"Autumn." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc, 30 Dec. 2001, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autumn. Accessed 30 Sept. 2019.

College of Natural Resources, North Carolina State University Topography, Soil, and Trees [...]. Site, research.cnr.ncsu.edu/sites/woodlandstewardseries/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2015/01/ForestryIncludesSoilTopographyandTrees.pdf.

Photo image, person holding fallen leaves, by Cecile Vedemil via Unsplash