Although August has been quite wet so far, the countryside around Motovun is already getting its autumnal colors. By the looks of it, one would guess it was late September or early October. But I have never seen so much rusty red in the woods surrounding our town—not even in late autumn. And all this because late June and most of July were unusually dry. As far as I can gather, trees shed leaves so as to conserve scarce water. Tree crowns thus start turning first yellow and then red on the side exposed to the scorching sun. By and by, the whole tree turns red before shedding its leaves. When I talk about all this with the people who have vineyards around Motovun, they just shrug their shoulders. It is too early to tell. Traditionally, the earliest they start picking the grapes is in mid-September, more than a month from now. But they all guess that there will be much less wine for next year.

Addendum (August 5, 2012)

Ditto. Except that it is nearly a week earlier this year. Given that it is five years later than this piece was written, it is easy to predict when the autumn will start in another five years. Nearly two weeks earlier than five years ago, of course!