In Edinburgh, Autumn Leaves Don't Fall, They Fly

“We read books and highlight the lines that speak to us, we listen to music and tattoo the lyrics that touch us, we turn to poetry and learn the lines that become us; we are all hopelessly inept people, struggling in vain to coherently express ourselves. We know what we want to say but we don’t know how.”
I arrived in Edinburgh at the very end of summer in 2019, just before the Autumn rains start. In August, the water is still cold, but to me, Edinburgh always felt warm. The sea, the people, the morning light on Marchmont, my room, coffee with my friends. There I was, the world to myself, and I kept asking myself how life would be.
Sometimes, I was tired-tired of having to figure everything out myself. I would walk home through the Meadows, up circled stairs to my flat, close my door, and let my room mitigate the world for a moment.
Often, I was happy. About being young, at university. About going to cozy pubs with friends and coming home late at night where the lights would still be lit because I never lived alone, and there was always warmth and life in my flat. Happy to sit in grass and read my books. To hear bagpipes in the morning. To race my brother down cobblestone roads and hike Arthur‘s seat - I walked up so many times, and each time, it felt different. Geological silence, a crisp breeze, harsh winter storms.
Here I learned that you can’t shoot a canon from a canoe. That living and time have different itineraries. That days are long but years are short and that all that counts is to be engaged in the here and now because everything is swiftly passing and many things happen only once in life.
When I left, you disappeared and became the city I studied in, but as much as you change, I’ll always recognize your streets, your buildings, your smell, your wind for all the watermarks I’ve left. Youthful love. Old friends and books. Nightwalks and morning runs. Coloured cheeks and messy hair.
I like to think that a version of me will always be 20, sitting in that room, lying in that bed, lights dancing on the ceiling as the cars drive through the Meadows. It’s an October morning and I‘m about to walk over to Victor Hugo Cafe, read my book, and see what the day holds. It’s windy. And in Edinburgh, autumn leaves don’t fall, they fly.

[@HannahW201]

I'm Edinburgh born and raised - this film is honestly stunning! Amazing work!

[@fynncomerford]

Thanks so much!!

[@leonylias]

You’ve captured the city like no one else. Unbelievably stunning work! The emotion in the different scenes is so strong, and paired with the audio it juts gives goosebumps.

[@fynncomerford]

@@leonylias thank you so much, that’s very kind of you to say!