THE September air turned crisp this week as we were reminded that despite the turmoil of the world, the seasons will come, and the earth will remind us of the forces greater than our imagination.
It is possible to mark the passing of the seasons by the shelves of big bargain stores and the sudden onslaught of different varieties of seasonal gonks. Where did the legions of gonks come from anyway? It feels like we moved from smiling pumpkin people very quickly to gonks, first at Christmas but now wearing decaying sunflowers and scarves of orange. They do not exactly lack personality, indeed when they first arrived they seemed fun, but now they are one step away from Gremlins, as though a Gizmo Gonk got splashed by water in the night. Novelty shopping has become a tad spooky with the armies of gonks peering at us, despite their lack of eyes.
We can also mark the turning of the season by the sudden change in colours and aromas. Our senses, not quite yet ready for cinnamon, are bombarded by orange hues with pumpkin varieties of washing up liquid, antibacterial spray, room fresheners and dog shampoos. In fact, if you're still clinging to summer with lilac soap in the bathroom, you may stay away from Instagram or any household section of the supermarket as you are just not with it.
Clearly, I am showing my aged gender with all of this. The algorithms have caught me and my type perfectly. The pressure to update our front doors with wreaths of plastic grasses, pumpkins and sunflowers is matched only by the stampede to buy orange chrysanthemums. All of the above are lovely, and homely and they do make us feel cosy, but now at some stage it risks becoming overwhelming, and somewhere we lost our choice and the joy has been replaced by anxiety. For many, autumn is a favourite time of the year, not to be pressured or 'influenced' into plastic sadness, but re-finding our inner joy.
So to hell with all of it. The leaves are taking their time before they fall this year, and with the late sunshine we have had we will undoubtedly get a glorious display as we kick along the ground with joy, and crunch through mounds of the shedded reds, golds and oranges. The chestnuts are nearly ready to fall and turn into conkers. And the dried grasses of autumn are almost ready to cut, giving a better colour for the vase than the overpriced plastic versions.
Being outside in the autumn air is priceless. This season of getting cosy and preparing for the harsher weather ahead is not meant to be about worrying if we get it picture perfect. It is about laying down the homemade jams and chutneys for the hams and the cheeses and the late-night toasties to come. Or dusting off the old faithful blankets that do the trick at night when the duvet is too much, but you can’t have the heating blasting. Or about getting the chimney swept, to make sure it is safe for lighting that fire and getting the company only a lit fire gives to the living room when it is dark before you get your dinner.
And one last tip? A homemade apple sponge takes less time, money and effort than a run into the big shops, and fills our homes with a far lovelier scent anyway.
