Autumnal musings

It's almost the end of August already, which means only one thing...the beginning of my favourite time of year - the "bers", (SeptemBER, OctoBER, NovemBER and DecemBER). 

I can't ever put into words exactly why autumn and early winter are so special to me, but they truly are. It's hard to articulate why I start feeling excitable as soon as September the first rolls round and continues to bubble away until January-ish. Even stating that my soul feels "warm" at this time of year doesn't do it any justice. The best way to explain it is to equate it to the old Ready Brek advert from when I was a child, that 'glow' the kids had, it's like that but inside my body. 

I could surmise it is because both of my children, my wife and I were all born within the "bers", or as an avid fan of horror films and general spookiness October/Halloween holds a special place in my heart, the carving of the pumpkins, the watching of horror films and Halloween-themed cartoons and telling of spooky stories. Also just after Halloween we have bonfire night, who doesn't like a little bonfire? When it's chilly and you're kept warm by a mini bonfire, true bliss! 

Or maybe my pleasure derives from my favourite event of the year; Christmas. I dearly love the festive season, my decorations go up before or on the first of December and I bask in their warmth until at least January the first, thoroughly absorbing naff Christmas films and music, drawing Christmas cards for my friends, making festive jigsaws, paperchains and decorations. Baking mince pies, wrapping presents, and getting really sentimental over people who are no longer around and Christmases gone by, essentially spending genuine quality time with my family, I am very pro-Christmas. Last year especially when I officially played Father Christmas in a virtual sense, sending personalised messages, a personal appearance and zoom calls to loads of kids all in the name of charity, it was a heartwarming and humbling experience and easily my highlight last year. People's generosity honestly overwhelmed me and I shall be eternally grateful.

There is also New Year's, which has grown on me over the years, I used to find it incredibly boring. Staying up late in a pub or bar, possibly having a drunken smooch/ scrap with another equally drunk party-goer, shouting 'yay' at the strike of midnight, singing Auld Lang Syne and stumbling home thinking of how I had wasted another year. But nowadays, it is a time to stay up late with my wife and children, playing board games and laughing - a lot! I genuinely look forward to it after Christmas.

There are also a thousand memories wrapped up in these months as for my little family these are the months of our parties and buffets; sadly the pandemic brought these to a rather dramatic close, however our last Halloween party especially went out on a high, the kids who came along seemingly thoroughly enjoyed it, (or it may have just been the sugars and colourings they had consumed to be fair), it was a grand affair, I essentially made a fairground in my garden, complete with ghost train. Each year I had tried to improve on the year before  so it had probably reached its apex by that stage! 

But, other than all of the wonderful celebrations, preparations and festivities, there is an undeniable lingering magic, it is in nature itself; the smell of autumn, the crisp brown leaves underfoot, acorns, berries, conkers and even the early morning frost, truly beautiful. So beautiful in fact that we started a tradition of making an annual autumn basket each year, (see photo below), to honour the natural splendour of autumn. We start adding to it in September and carry on throughout the "bers", putting anything autumnal we find on our journey's in there, I highly recommend this! 

Let's also not forget the layers, as somebody who has a physique like mine, (imagine a gorilla in skinny jeans), many layers of clothing are a godsend, I can disguise my appalling physique underneath many layers, hoorah! 

I realise all of the seasons have their own unique appeal but let's hear it for the "bers" a truly magical, beautiful and soul-enriching time of the year! 

(p.s. if you ever want to go on an autumnal stroll with a Shrek-looking bearded guy who will constantly stop and go "ooh, look at that", count me in, I'm always up for a stomp this time of year)