Winter’s coming

The leaves are falling already, so autumn is well and truly on its way. The last of the summer sun is fading fast and the temperatures are definitely dropping. The chill is in the air.

I don’t mind autumn so much. I like the colours, the reds, the russets the browns, and the berries on the trees. Nourishment. I don’t mind going from summer shirts to light weight jumpers and from sandals to covered in shoes. Soon, it will be boots. The transition is gradual. You know its coming.

There are still days to be hopeful for big bright open skies that stay bright until late evening…. that is, of course, until the last Saturday in October, when the clocks go back and the nights draw in, and the sky turns black at 5 O’clock. Oh dread!

They both died in the autumn. The sky was still blue. The sun was still shining, the leaves had begun to fall but the darkness came before the last Saturday in October.

My mum, she was 80 when she died. She died peacefully at home, in my arms. If you could have a ‘good death’, she had it, quietly and calmly, she drifted off. She was at peace, but I miss her.

My friend was 56. Hers was the shocker, the unexpected, the one I felt the most angry about. Still do. Not old age. Not a terrible accident. No, that dreaded word, Cancer. The cancer was back. It had gone, but then it came back. She had 10 days. We had 10 days. 10 days of knowing, that this was it, this was the end. How do you prepare for that, come to terms with that, accept that, without being angry. She was tired, she was reconciled, she was ready, she said. I wasn’t, still aren’t.

Now another winter is coming. I dread the thoughts. Dark nights, stormy weather. Cold, freezing temperatures, power cuts. Damp, wet, bleakness.

Eat, comfort food, sit warming by the fire, watch tv, read. Hibernate or …..Head south for winter. Become a snow bird and leave the black behind, the dark, the drudge, leave it there, in the cold stone hearth. Leave the comfort of the comfort zone.

Let me be a snow bird. Let me stay in the light, feel the sunlight on me. Open the door to all sorts of unknown opportunities. Let me wander, let me explore, let me soar. Don’t let me stop me. Here now, let me open that door !

authors own – The Alpujarra mountains