Mixed feelings about September

The beginning of September always depresses me. Maybe that harks back to when I was teaching, and September meant the start of a new school term after the summer break. I admit I never looked forward to going back to school, although once I was there, I soon got into the swing again.

Since I’ve now retired from teaching, I can’t blame my dislike of September on ‘back to school blues’. In one sense, September is like every other month, now that my time is my own, but this month sees the beginning of autumn – ‘season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’.


Autumn at Tarn Hows in the English Lake District

Photo ©Andrew Hill licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

I’ll admit to loving the autumn colours, especially in the countryside. I remember how my breath was once taken away by the reds, oranges, and golds of a group of trees alongside a small river in the Lake District (the river Brathay, for those who know it). I used to love the scents of autumn at the harvest festival service too.

But, in September, the evenings start getting darker, and as the trees lose their leaves, it’s a reminder that winter is on its way again – and I hate winter!

For me, spring is the best season of the year, with the promise of summer coming too. Not for me the dying flowers of autumn and the reminder that winter is on its way. My favourite season is spring. I love the rebirth of life, the first green shoots appearing and the new leaves budding on the trees. Maybe that’s why my favourite flower is the daffodil, and not the aster of chrysanthemum of the autumn season.

On the upside, September is rather like a new year to me, again a hark back to the start of the new school year when I was teaching. So, after a ‘summer break’, I’m returning to my blog, with some ‘new year’ resolutions:

On Sundays, I will post something general (like today) – something I’ve seen or heard during the previous week, or something that has occurred to me.

On Tuesdays, as a lead-up to the publication of my next novel, ‘Irish Inheritance’, I’ll tell you more about some of the places that feature in my novel, together with photos taken during my many visits to the Emerald Isle.

On Thursdays, I’ll return to the challenge I set myself earlier in the year – clicking ‘Random article’ on Wikipedia, and trying to connect whatever topic I find there to writing in some way.

If I have any spare time(!), I’ll also try to write some blogs for the GBE2 weekly topic challenge. And, of course, I'll still be making my weekly contribution on Wednesdays to our group blog, Heroines with Hearts

Well, my intentions are good. Now let's see if I can keep to them!