Glowing Like an Indian Summer
It isn’t just Dassin, dreaming of autumnal colours, at times wild, at others, mild, setting the hills, mountains, and our countryside (where the seasons are always larger than life) ablaze.
You know, I’ve never been happier than I was that morning
We walked on a beach a little like this one
It was autumn, a beautiful autumn
A time of year that happens only in North America
They call it an Indian summer, there
(…)
We’ll go wherever you want, whenever you want
And we’ll love each other again, even as love dies
Life will be as it was that morning
Glowing like an Indian summer
- Joe Dassin
[Translation of the lyrics to L'été Indien (1975)]
Had Dassin been walking on one of our Charlevoix beaches? Had his gaze been fixed on one of our red-tinged mountains? No matter; it’s easy to imagine having the happiest times of our lives, amidst the exuberance of autumn colours!
The reddish maple leaf, the bright yellow birch leaves, and the myriad shades of brown and bronze… The vibrant palette of our countryside in autumn, whether in the wild or in the village, in the forest or on the coast, embodies the call of America, of Canada, of pumpkins, and of wildlife heard by thousands of tourists from Europe and Asia.
The colours here inspire artists! Once upon a time, landscape painters made Baie-Saint-Paul one of their base camps: René Richard and Clarence Gagnon, for example. Now, in a multitude of mediums and styles, October shapes and colours can be seen in textile compositions, jewels, or in our artists’ and artisans’ contemporary works.
The kitchen table in autumn, a time of abundance for our vegetable growers, invites visits to producers, pick-your-own farms, canning and stockpiling for the winter, making room for comfort foods on the menu, and celebrations of terroir [local products]!
Visitors and locals alike, let’s join together to celebrate a season like no other, where wildflowers still peek out, purple and gold, where bales of golden wheat are piled high, where apples are picked, then bitten into with a burst of laughter, where the jolt of heat that starts November off bears the poetic name of “Indian summer.” An ephemeral exhilaration, as fleeting as the colour on the leaves.
Because autumn is also this: Watching time pass before our eyes, almost being able to catch sight of autumn’s inner workings. Also known as the late season, this is the one that epitomizes the end of the life-cycle, scented by petrichor and undergrowth, perhaps as a reminder of the importance of enjoying it to the fullest!
