The haunting voice of the owl tells us summer is over – and this year, November’s arrival will be hard to top.

It was preceded by a wild week, beginning with a tropical storm/hurricane assisted by a full autumnal moon. There were flooding tides, early snowstorms and widespread disruption. All that was followed by the busy spooks of Halloween, and today we were faced with a mandatory extra hour for sleeping.

The “fall-back” switch from Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time also gives us an added hour for loading pine knots and hardwood for the woodstove, before leaning back and toasting our toes while recovering our equilibrium.

November is considerably more than the winds of autumn and the shortening daylight hours; it’s a vital transition in the rhythm of the seasons. A year that began in January’s chill and then warmed to unfurl tender new leaves has now seen those same green leaves turn to gold and scarlet. Pecans and persimmons ripen, and the squirrel continues his hoarding. By month’s end, most branches will be bare, the better to ride out the cold winds to come.

Whether with fierce storms or bright, mild days, autumn carries us from summer’s heat to winter’s chill, and toward another beginning.