Wonderful Autumn

Quite possibly, this is my very favourite season. Although I know that by the time spring comes around I will probably be saying spring is my very favourite season! In truth I think I simply cannot make up my mind.

Autumn delights me. It refreshes, and invigorates me, yet at the same time I find it incredibly restful and soothing.
Autumn for me is a season of new beginnings, of change and endless possibilities, of renewed purpose and energy, of freedom and creativity.
While summer frustrates and sometimes even depresses me, autumn makes me want to get things done, and excites me.

I know autumn is often used as a metaphor to signify the later years in life... And if that is the case, I cannot wait for those years!! Autumn is not, for me, a season of sadness, or of waiting for 'death'. I guess it's a choice of attitude. I could choose to bemoan the fact that it is getting colder, that the days are getting shorter, that there is less green around, and that trees are losing more and more leaves every day.

On the other hand, colder means early morning mist hovering over golden ripe fields, bringing with it a freshness heavy with the strangely sweet, moldy fragrance of damp soil, moss and fungi.
Shorter days give way to long cosy evenings wrapped in a fluffy jumper, soft fleecy slippers, watching flames dance in a little wood burning stove with a mug of hot chocolate in one hand, and a good book in the other.
Less green...also means a gloriously rich tapestry of reds, golds, browns and yellows! Thinning, barer trees, but so much more fruit, more colour, more fun kicking the carpet of crisp leaves which have fallen to the ground...

I read this a few days ago. It made so much sense to me, and they could almost have been my words... I read and thought: at last! someone who gets it, who isn't afraid to admit that while our british summers are usually a bit of a flop, our british autumns more than make up for it and should be celebrated.

"It is almost a relief to declare the dismal summer of 2008 finally over. Teasing reports of pressure building over the Azores will no longer give rise to false hopes of camping or days on the beach, only to be deflated by another Atlantic depression twisting the isobars. The tent is paked away and the first evening fires have been lit. The beaches are empty and the stew is on the stove. The cruel waiting and disappointment is over; bring on the autumn when tempestuous weather and coats are expected, not resented"... (Guy Watson, Founder of Riverford Organic Vegetables)

The way God intended the wondrous mystery of changing seasons is indeed to be celebrated, and not begrudged. So let's enjoy and delight in creation!