Autumnal Mutterings

Here I am surrounded by technology, looking out of my window to blue skies and sunshine, wishing I was not at work but able to enjoy the Autumnal morning.

It is cold, but bright, sunny but chilly and yet I love this time of year. The crispness of the air hints at frosts still to arrive and means coats have to be worn when outside for any length of time, yet the sunshine engenders a warmth to the soul that grey skies and rain never do (even for the hardened gardeners).

Autumn brings the colours on the trees to life, like butterflies they are short-lived and fall like broken wings to the floor to catch the unwary walker.

It is a the seasons for hearty stews, of buttered potatoes and sweet vegetables; for mulled wine and hot puddings to warm the inner soul.

So far we have resisted the lure of putting on the heating at home, but it is drawing ever closer. The evening temperatures fall dramatically and by 8pm last night it was 3 degrees outside; the temperature, not the singers.

This weekend the clocks will be wound back, and the days will appear a lot shorter, due to getting home in the dark and by the middle of winter it will be dark in the mornings. Do we really need to keep messing around with the clocks these days, are there any tangible benefits in doing so? I don't know, when children used to walk to school, maybe, but so many of them don't these days though perhaps the increases in the cost of living might make a difference this winter.