AUTUMN EVENING

Having spent a merry morning cleaning the bathroom, making sausages and preparing a large pan of colcannon for dinner I was more than ready for a breath of air,so as soon as Pa returned from his hospital appointment I trundled off in to the glowing autumn afternoon.

With little more than an hour before dark I headed for the parkland opposite my home. The long drive bordered by Lime trees looked as if they had been gilded and the ancient oaks had a toffee colour about them.

Every where I looked the beautiful colours of the season,enhanced by the light of a setting sun showered the ground with beauty to the delight of a group of small children who ran about trying to catch the leaves before they joined the other fallen. Around each tree a circle of gold,crimson or copper swirled like a gypsy dancers skirt as she sinks to the ground at the end of her dance.

The light was fading fast as I made my way in to a little plantation of young trees,, Birch,Hazel,

Chestnut,Alder and Sloe Among many others. Sweetbrier. So fragrant during the summer months now sported thousands of brilliant red shiny hips,waiting for the Fieldfares and Redwings who will soon be hear,and hungry!

Now as I turned homewards I noticed the first pink tinge in the evening sky and before I had travelled far the tint became a stain .blood red which spread across the sky setting the tree tops in the shelter belt alight . From the lake great skeins of wild geese headed for the river and as I watched the sky changed again to a deep rose red,I stopped to watch and could not bear to move on until the last flame of red had gone .

I have always love being outside at dusk,and in the dark,though these days it is unusual for my to be out and about in the evenings. Halfway down the long drive I could see the light from our cottage

windows,it always looks so cosy and so safe snuggled beneath the ancient church tower,and sheltered by tall trees.

For me ever since childhood the happiness of coming home, has always been wrapped up in memories of fire light and the smell of cooking,the cherry greeting from those already within and the promise of a cosy evening with the ones I love best. Time changes the faces of those who wait at home,but the welcome and the warmth remain.