Autumn Preparations

[gothwalk]

The changing of seasons has become more important to me over the last five or six years. When I lived in Wexford, it was just there, unavoidable and unquestioned, and apart from adjusting my expectations of what I could do on a given day, I don't recall paying much attention to seasonal things. Then again, what fish pays attention to water? My first two years in Dublin, however, were impacted by the changing seasons so very little that I'm beginning to wonder if I spent them in a bubble. I don't recall having a different coat at any stage, for instance; always the same blue velvet jacket.

Now I'm noticing elements of change, more and more every year. Leaves appearing, turning, falling, weather changes, equinoctal storms (not as reliable for the last two years), seasonal fruit, temperatures, changing clothes and fashions, and the reactions in myself.

As summer becomes autumn, I find myself thinking about switching to a coat with sleeves (and muttering vaguely, because my autumn/spring coat doesn't have as many pockets), changing my listening from the punk and reggae of summer toward baroque and medieval, getting in firewood and other burnables, making jam, soup, stew. Considering whether I want to make apple jelly - mr_wombat and cartographer have an apple tree in the back garden; I'm sure if I ask nicely I'd get access - or if the whole straining performance is too much bother.

Even in a city house, I find there are preparations to be made - making sure that we have decent draught excluders this year, bringing the ash bucket from the barbeque to the sitting room fireplace, finding wherever the various fire tools have gone, buying in candles, and moving stuff around in the shed to accomodate the garden furniture.

I'm enjoying all of this.

Comments

[wyvernfriend.livejournal.com]

Indeed, yesterday my mind went "autumn now"

BTW if you want to make a field trip to the library some day (I work late mondays and wednesdays) you can harvest some plums from the tree that leans into our garden.

I still have jam and chutney from last year!

[gothwalk.livejournal.com]

Totally. I'll be there next Monday evening, if they're ripe now. :)

[wyvernfriend.livejournal.com]

Picked a few yesterday and they're fine, maybe just underripe but that should be good by monday. I have a catcher thing for higher ones and everything (they provided the library with two rubbish catcher things and this one was still in it's box last year when I decided that it was perfect for the job)

I finish at 8pm, busses to there are the 51B/C and 78A, from either where virgin used to be at the quays or the Viking longboat statue near civic offices, they have seperate stops on the upper quays.