the yellowing

This post is about a 12km walk from Kayran to Doganyurt. It was the time when I noticed the leaves slowly getting yellow.

Remember how I was cold when I was spending the night in my summer sleeping bag and Blankie in the village school a few days earlier?

Well, this time I woke up at two in the morning because I felt unbearably hot. I had forgotten how awesome my winter sleeping bag really was. Getting out of it was like opening a steamed dumpling – there was a cloud of hot air, and my shirt was soaking wet.

is autumn sad?

I got up after sunrise and started walking. The road continued to wind its way over the hills, and it was almost totally quiet. I could hear the waves of the Black Sea under me and the birds in the trees. One time I was sure I heard a cicada. But it couldn’t be, or could it?

It was getting later and later in the year, and the trees were slowly changing their colors from green to yellow and sometimes red.

I had been noticing for a while that I had a complicated feeling toward autumn. It seemed to be a time of sadness. As a friend put it: “Trees getting rid of all these leaves just want to save the energy and survive the winter – so devastating.”

But it was also a time of beauty. And for me, it was a last chance to breathe in the sun rays before the onset of winter.

a quiet town

The walk from Kayran to Doganyurt wasn’t long, but I took my time. When I arrived in the afternoon, I was surprised by the serenity of the place. Doganyurt was a small town with a population of about one thousand, huddled around a mosque, cradled in a bay.

There was an ögretmenevi, a Teachers’ House. I got a room with a balcony that overlooked the sea. And I decided to stay a for a little while.

pictures

The road to walk from Kayran to Doganyurt:

Cliffs near Kayran:

Yellowing leaves:

Yours truly:

Geese:

Doganyurt from the hills: