Autumn and Dusk

I like this time of year, because it is a time of change. The light changes, it is no longer light when you go to bed, or when you get up. Soon I will be cycling to and from work in the dark again. It is getting dark now, and over the roofs across the street I could see the pinkish light that always reminds me of the far south. It's beautiful.

Coming back from my shopping this morning, I also noticed the colour of the leaves. The trees are slowly changing from green to red, brown and yellow, and soon they will be bare again. The streets are covered with leaves in various colours.

It is getting colder too, especially in this house, which is not very well insulated, and where I don't often have the heating on. No time to eat salads and drink juice, but a good time for stews, Turkish coffees, hot chocolates and Beerenburg. A good time to curl up on the sofa, under a sleeping bag, with a hot drink and some chocolate.

It is getting on for Sinterklaas, that time of year, when you see the Speculaas in the shops again, and all the other sweet things associated with the old Bishops birthday celebrations. And I guess soon we will get the first Christmas decorations in the shopping centres.

This is also the time of year, when you are more likely to get wet. I need to bring my weatherproof gear whenever I go in to work, or cycle somewhere else. And I need to go up to the attic once in a while to make sure no water is seeping in through the windows and the roof. Sleeping upstairs mean you sometimes get woken by the sound of rain on the roof.

For a while life will be based much more inside the house, which is the cosiness of the season. For now that is fine, but I know that in a little while I will start looking forward to the light and the openness of spring. That I will start missing the sunshine and the light, the warmth. That I will look forward to the time when I don't need to wear three pairs of socks and three sweaters when I'm in the house, but can just wear a t-shirt, and can go back to bare feet in sandals. I'll be waiting for the next season of change again pretty soon.