Listen, the world is a mess (to put it lightly) but this has been the fall of my contentment and I want to share a bit of it with you.
This has not been a perfect fall by any means — from the aforementioned state of the world to an entire season of rainy Saturdays, it has all you need to cook up a bad season but instead I feel content, even joyful.
I’m enjoying brewing herbs and potions (ok tea and soups) in my candlelit kitchen on the days the sun doesn’t even bother to show up. I don’t even mind that the sun is ghosting us — I’m appreciating the darkness. I don’t know what the heck has happened to me, but it’s great to be able to appreciate the twilight when you happen to be living a New England October.
Perhaps it’s the beauty of a fleeting shock of yellow peeking through the brownish foliage (I think climate change and literal global warming robbed us of a technicolor fall) but I get a kick out of the leaves stubbornly sticking around. Maybe the lack of showiness gives them strength? Who knows. All I know is that they’ve done me the favor of sticking around during our soggy weekends and then fall gracefully during my many, many autumn walks.
And there it is.
I think that’s the secret. I’ve discovered the beauty of enjoying the season you’re in, and when it’s fall there is no greater thing than a walk in orange light as leaves flutter around you.
No panicking over the upcoming winter, which still sucks.
No mourning the lost summer and its delicious food and warmth.
Just enjoying the smoky light of fall and the slight smell of decay in the evenings.
Spring will be here soon enough, those rotting leaves will ensure it.
Here’s what I listen to on my forest walks. Please don’t bother judging whether it’s cool or expecting some obscure musical discoveries. I’m a 47-year old woman who writes poetry and newsletters FOR FUN. And yes, I make my own coffee mugs because I can make pottery now.
So proceed at your own delicious risk:
If you’re lucky enough to live where there’s autumn I suggest, no I insist, you get out this weekend and enjoy a walk in the warm light before it turns winter blue.
(If you don’t have fall, maybe light a candle and listen to it while under a blanket? Don’t forget your book, preferably from the library so the leaves are a little brown from age and wear. That sounds pretty nice too.)
with love,