After three decades living in Scotland, writer Merryn Glover has adapted to the seasonal shift toward darkness and learned to find deep appreciation in the exceptional quality of autumn light in the Cairngorms.
Embracing the Shifting Seasons
Following a fortnight dominated by heavy cloud, wind, and rain, a rare clear day offers a chance to spend time by Loch Insh, soaking in the sunlight and saving its warmth for the weeks ahead. Once the autumnal equinox passes in the Highlands, the sensation of the Earth tilting away from the sun becomes palpable as daylight shrinks and nights expand, a change that feels particularly stark when the clocks change and evenings turn abruptly dark.
Growing up in South Asia as an Australian accustomed to constant sunshine, the author initially found this dramatic transition discouraging and dreaded the winter months. A light box helped sustain her through the darkest period of winter for the first few years. Over thirty years in Scotland, however, the writer has fully acclimatised and discovered numerous reasons to celebrate autumn, noting how the advancing darkness is balanced by a distinct radiance in the low-angle sun cutting through the cold air.
The Radiance of Autumnal Light
The autumn sunlight gains remarkable clarity, carving sharp boundaries around shadows and highlighting every individual twig and rock in high relief. Long-reaching rays carry an intensity that illuminates the fiery red and orange palette of berries and changing foliage. When shafts of sunlight pierce through otherwise slate-dark days, the trees appear illuminated from the inside, resembling a golden halo.
On this particular day, fresh snow on the hills shines with a brilliant white that is mirrored by gliding swans on the loch. The darkness itself loses its threatening edge, descending gently as each day yields more territory to a velvet night adorned by a silver moon.
Matching the seasonal tilt away from the sun, the writer turns upward to gaze at thousands of stars, planets, meteors, comets, and the gentle shimmer of the Milky Way, drawing in the atmosphere with hope for the upcoming winter.
