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Published: November 11th 2022
As I look out of the window or as I walk I see more and more signs that Autumn has arrived with a vengence . The weather is inclement . Some days extremely heavy rainfall. Downfalls that mean I cannot get out for a walk nor do I feel like doing much . Autumn has that effect upon you. The end of another year approaches . The Christmas advertisements have been on the TV for the last few weeks . Yet again I am reminded that each supermarket is in competition with another one to see who can drag in the shoppers to buy their turkey, Christmas puddings and festive delights . Each furniture store reminds me that I can order a sofa now and it might be delivered by Christmas . Who needs or wants Christmas rammed down their throats when it is weeks away . Certainly not me .
The grass is too wet to cut . The trees are taking on their Autumn colours . Out of the window I see the flaming reds and oranges of the Azaleas, the crimson on the Forsythia , the mixed green and buttery yellow on the trees opposite me. It
is a never ending job of clearing up the brown fallen leaves from the Magnolia . It wont be long before it flowers again. The cycle of flowering will be followed by petal drop which in turn next Autumn will be followed by clearing up of the dead leaves .
The clocks have changed . It is now slightly lighter in the mornings but dark by 4.30. The days feel a lot shorter and the nights a lot longer . Sometmes we get wind. I am grateful for that as it dries the washing on the clothes line . On odd days the sun shines . An Indian summer with lovely warm temperatures . Can I still call it an Indian summer ? Or should I call it that time of the year when the weather is mainly cold and damp with mists and moisty days when the sun does not shine . But on odd days the sun does break through. It does not have the heat of summer nor the freshness of Spring but it is welcomed as it feels like an extension to summer. A period of calm before the Winter with the snow and ice
sets in . A lot of words to describe an Indian Summer . And I probably have not done justice to it .
The river is up. The flood wardens assure us in their yearly newsletter that they have walked the defences and all seems good. Any defects have been reported and the rivers authority have been up to complete remedial work . The council have sent out machines to clear the drains . So all is well in the world . Although it is always a worry when the rains come . The heating is on every morning and evening as the colder nights set in. The energy cap has been raised meaning the supply companies will make more profits at the expense of everyone else who are having to tighten their belts and sit in the cold more often . The Prime Minister has been to the Climate Conference and many words of encouragement have been spoken but little probably has been achieved . Nurses are going on strike for the first time in their history asking for 5% above the inflation rate . The country is in a mess.
We miss Gabby and have been
wondering if we should go away at Christmas . We could travel down to the motor museum in Gayden. We have driven past it times many. The cost of the visit is extortionate but with our Three for one offer on Tesco vouchers we might get in for under a tenner . We could travel on the train . No different from Gabby. We would just use the car lanes and not have our on board facilities . One side says do it . The other is not so sure . We could drop off in Calais . Eat our first menu du jour. Enjoy our first french breakfasts and suffer a french hotel or two . We could visit Calais at night I thought as I walked . Visit it in the day and take a ride on the Calais Dragon . A distant relative to the elephant at Nantes and the Minotaur in Toulouse . There is the Atlantic Wall museum and various other World War 2 military sites we missed last time round. Christmas in a hotel room - the jury was out . Christmas in a gite somewhere near St Malo, Vitre or Falaise . Now that was a different kettle of fish .
All plans though were on hold . Some old guy hit our car on the way to the football match. A re-arranged game due to the Queens death against Maidenhead . Wrong place. Wrong time . Will it all get sorted this side of Christmas ? Who knows ? As I walked I pondered on long phone calls to insurance companies , cost of driving for us going up next year despite not being at fault and thoughts of Calais went out of the window . When things go wrong there is the tendency for bad luck to follow bad luck like a bad smell .
Autumn , Dark nights - I was wishing my life away . I just wanted normality and Spring to be just round the corner .
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
Wishing our life away...
gloomy days can do this to ones psyche. As I look out my window, I see that we got a bit of snow last night. The porch railing has about an inch, as to the roofs on the neighbors houses. But the sky is blue, which is usual for Colorado. We get 300 days/year of it. And all the trees are evergreens so we have a lot of color (or colour). But being retired with not much to occupy myself, other than the daily visit to Walmart, and not being able to plan another trip with Linda's cancer treatments and a dog that can't be left alone, I'm feeling that I'm in a holding pattern, but not wishing my life away. I hope you get your new car back to perfection without too much hastle. As for where to spend Christmas, we went to London once. Everything was closed...we did find an open Indian restaurant or we would have starved. The weather was miserable, and I caught a bad cold. So don't go to London. Perhaps a flight to a Christmas market. We enjoyed those in Germany...especially the gluwein.