October 1st – whichever way you look at it Autumn is here. Officially it started on September 22nd but last week’s sunny weather made it still feel like summer.
Now, the nights are drawing in, the leaves are falling, the garden furniture has been put away, there’s a cold snap in the air and everything just feels that little bit greyer, including my mood!
Thanks to the charity Stoptober and Sober October campaigns we’ve been asked to think of the year’s 10th month as a time for abstinence. Not so many takers in 2020 I suspect.
To make things worse the Autumn festivals of Hallowe’en and Bonfire Night have effectively been cancelled and the build up to Christmas won’t be quite the same.
Years ago, when I was a lot younger, I used to love going to a big firework display, I even had the stressful but memorable privilege of organising a big display for a client’s 60th anniversary when I was in my early twenties.
No other event compares with the sensory bombardment of Guy Fawkes night with the flashes and bangs, the food and fire smells and the wind chill or bonfire warmth on your face.
Just thinking about it makes want to do a little display at home with just the family but I’d worry about scaring my pet rabbits.
I also used to quite enjoy going out with the kids on Trick & Treat nights but now they’re grown up I no longer take part.
Our annual November escape to the Caribbean has also been cancelled so I’m preparing for a long season.
Despite everything I feel reasonably upbeat. The combined affects of lockdown, quarantine and maybe just getting used to the relative idleness of retirement has forced me to slow down a bit.
I’ve stopped counting the days, setting deadlines and working through long to-do lists. It means I’m getting a lot less done, of course, but maybe that’s a good thing for now. After all there IS less to do and perhaps this is the retirement correction we all have to go through.
With nothing in particular to count down to, I’m going to take each day as it comes and focus on the good of this season – after all it lasts for a quarter of every year so what’s the point in wishing it away.
I’m looking forward to the beauty of Autumn leaves, the freshness of those frosty mornings, not feeling the need to be outside, no weeds growing in the garden and being snuggled up with Mrs Jones in our cosy lounge.
How about that for positive thinking!