First comes snow on the tips of the highest mountains. Then comes the breeze – it chills itself as it passes over the mountain tops before plunging into the valleys. Then comes the Autumn frost. First, it disappears in the morning, but soon it stays longer and longer, until it covers the landscape with a silky glow, in the highest sun.

This leaf, as big as my palm, was crispy through and through at three in the afternoon.