AUTUMNAL MUSINGS

Summer arrived very late this year and seems now to have departed in haste without any warning, the long hot days,sometimes too hot, have devolved in to cold rainy mornings and blustery afternoons which slip quickly in to darkness.

This turn of events always triggers in me the urge to make the house cosy and I begin to seek out draught excluder’s,fur rugs and fleecy dressing gowns. My light ,airy summertime room iS already transformed in to a russet ,cream and brown haven of cosiness. Lit in the evenings by candles in coloured glass containers it exudes comfortable warmth.

As Autumn turns to winter this theme will be accentuated until,like “Ratty” from “The Wind In The Willows” I am fully prepared for the winter months of dozing before the fire......at least in theory at any rate,

Gone are the pretty wayside flowers from the vases, stalks of wheat grass,sprays of berries and flowering ivy now take their place adding to the warmth with their autumn richness.

Even Pa feels the change in the air and is tidying his room....don't pass out on me now......he is actually beginning to make inroads in to the....what's the word I am searching for......ah yes....dump will do nicely.

The fact is that as it now seems likely that he will be spending some time in hospital shortly I am convinced that he is worried the I shall instigate another ruthless turn out of all the accumulated detritus currently hiding under his desk and behind book cases. While I admit that this was in my mind I am not such a dragon as to trash anything important,the trouble is that one woman’s trash is another man, treasure....sad by true!

During the afternoon I ventured forth to buy some cheese and fruit,I set out swathed in a fur collared cloak and returned still more cocooned by a bright yellow rain cape;sartorially in elegant but very,very noticeable to other traffic!

Even the planning of the weeks menus has taken an autumnal turn and now features such delights as chicken stew with bacon dumplings, ham and leek pie, braised steak and onions with heaps of buttery mashed potato and one of our great specialities London Particular. This delicacy is a soup made from the stock in which the ham was boiled and dries green peas,the result of this marriage is a warming ,tasty soup which is as thick as the London fog from which it takes its name.

The nights are growing noticeably colder now,last night I was glad to pull up the rust colour fleece left conveniently at the foot of the bed. I love to sleep with the windows open and I do so until it becomes impractical,that being when the rest of the family begin to moan about the frost on their morning coffee!

I used to dislike Autumn,for me it spelled the end of summer fun,endless evenings in the soft summer air,older now I find a good deal of satisfaction in the seasons changes and in preparing my home for the dark winter months ahead.

My mother says that I have always been contrary and used to prophesy that I would hate the winter as I grew older,it has not happened yet and I hope it never will.

The year has it's seasons just as we have ours. There is much to be enjoyed in autumn and in winter time,just as there is in growing older,I do not hold with the modern idea that one is past it at the moment the first bloom of youth wears away.

Just as the autumn brings a mellowness to the harsh heat of summer,and the pure pleasure of cool air touching ones skin. Just as wintertime brings the fun of bonfire night and the joy of Christmas,so growing older brings with it, for me at least, blessings of it's own. Quietness of spirit,assurance in ones place in the scheme of things and above all time to enjoy the delights of home,family and friends; in fact it rather increases my enjoyment of the winter festivals.

Perhaps it is looking after Pa,and my own growing infirmity which has given me this out look for there is one thing of which I am absolutely certain, the view is always better if one looks on the bright side,if one see,s the good in people and the happiness in the small pleasures of life.

Happiness should be now, right this minute, and we should try to find it everywhere if we want not to be miserable. Looking for some happy time in the future leads to nothing but emptiness ,for as we know tomorrow never comes.

Of course I suffer, as do we all ,from occasional spells of gloom and there are many tragedies in life which cannot be laughed off,and this is the exact point I am trying so clumsily to make,seize the good times and enjoy them,then treasure the memories so that when the bad times come there will be consolation and hopefully a return to happiness,in time, for us all.