First frost

When I woke up yesterday morning, there was a proper frost on the ground. There was a puddle that was absolutely solid when I took the children to school at around 8:40. But this did bring up a question that my children love to ask – when does Autumn (or indeed any other season start). Mainstream news like to point to one day, usually Autumnal Equinox and say that this is the “official beginning of Autumn” even if the weather on the ground isn’t really reflecting this. I think in part this is a hang-over from the legal system of dividing the year up into four to make contracts and the paying of rents easier to manager. This four-fold split is nearly aligned with the solstices and equinoxes, leading to the confusion.

I think I’ve finally found an answer that seems to satisfy both our shifting seasons and the demands of my children. I told them that Autumn starts when you can see most of the (deciduous) trees are showing a lot of turning leaves in colours of red, orange, yellow, brown etc. This encourages them to look around at their environment and make their own decisions. They’re also waiting for most of the trees to be mostly bare, at which point we’ll decide that Winter is upon us.

What would be your answer to this question? When do you think the seasons turn?