First day of Autumn

We are now officially in one of my favourite times of the year. I don't like being hot or excessively cold so Autumn is just right. Keats had it right, Season of mist and mellow fruitfulness, especially in Kent where we were well known for orchards.

Kicking up fallen leaves is a cliché, but an enjoyable one. Kids and Conkers still have a connection, something which was true when I was one. The nights are chilly, with a hint of things to come in the long cold winter months, but when you get home and your home is warm all that can be forgotten.

Walking becomes enjoyable again as the trees grow brown, orange and yellow and gradually drop their leaves to form a carpet under your feet. My favourite walks, the local cemeteries, become colourful and the graves and tombstones are less morbid, their sombre grey, black and stark whites replaced with a riot of colour.

Yet again winter will drop rain, maybe snow from leaden skies as it grips the world with it's icy clutch. Until then nature takes on it's Autumn mantle, all part of the great cycle of death and rebirth.

Enjoy.