Yesterday was the First of September. The first day of a shift into a new season, here in the Northern Hemisphere that being Autumn. Unlike many, as a rule I do not relish this time of year. I dislike the idea of the light disappearing from our days. I was a new girl at school too many times for it to ever feel other than nerve-wracking. I yearned nostalgically for those summer days of freedom as I donned new uniform and braced myself for finding my way physically and mentally in a new situation. Life seems harsher overall when the temperature drops. I feel happiest in summer clothes, my arms and legs bare.
Yesterday was however a beautiful day. The late-summer light was indeed at a mellow angle, the drone of harvesters in the background all too familiar, grounding the sense of time and place even more. I decided to take some time out and act a bit like a child. There was no-one watching me as I went up to the field and sat on the swing and swung hard for 20 minutes. I let myself breathe properly for the first time since I can remember. I bounced on the trampoline. I rode my bike fast round the lanes. I ate an ice-cream. So far so good.
Yesterday was my first day 'off' in many months. It felt good to let things go. It was helpful to feel this way. I still have a long way to travel with many personal issues which I won't go into here, but yesterday was definitely a starting point for me.
I still can't get enthusiastic about Autumn. I understand we are good at doing Autumn: it will largely obey the rules and let us indulge in all those things we do to make it enjoyable: 'the fallen leaves, jumpers and boots and drawn curtains against dark nights...' as a new Twitter friend who is a writer put so beautifully. I will accept the changing season as always, try to keep my nostalgia in check. And I will be grateful for a special first day of Autumn 2012, where the shift in the Earth brought some things together for me that I had ignored for previous seasons.
A father will never quite understand a mother's attachment to a child but as a teacher and someone who started many new schools and who went to boarding school, I understand that September feels like a month for goodbyes and for missing. TS Eliot wrote that 'April is the cruellest month' when the sleeping world is forced to wake from comfort and confront its own struggle, but September, when hibernation is almost upon us and we are forced to start new, seems particularly cruel.
ReplyDeleteNot indulgent, Suzy; holiday, release, reflection, and a wonderful share.
A father's ties are just as strong. Your words sum up so well the conflicting feelings of wanting to hunker down whilst having to accept the changes as the world turns again.
ReplyDeleteI wish you well with the start of a new school year!
Thank you for your lovely comment :)