成人快手

Ode to Autumn

• Kim Lenaghan
• 28 Sep 07, 03:57 PM

‘Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, close-bosom friend of the maturing sun.’ I couldn’t have put it better myself, although that’s obviously the perfect poetry of Keats as opposed to the poor prose of Kim. This really is my favourite time of the year and it’s amazing how many times I’ve heard that phrase uttered around me in the last week. So what is it about Autumn that we all love so much?

From my perspective it starts with the trees and that combination of colours as the leaves turn from the lush green of summer to flaming reds and gorgeous russets. When the sun shines it’s golden. A soft, diffused light that warms you, but not quite enough to keep the increasing chill at bay. One of the most breathtaking natural wonders I have ever seen is Fall in the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee and what about Paris as the ubiquitous chestnut trees shed their glowing mantles. How strange that nature throws up its finest and most vibrant riches when it’s dying. I told you I was no poet, and as you can see I fare no better as a philosopher. So, moving to matters more practical and prosaic……..

I can start getting out my cosy cardigans again and, let us be completely honest here, winter woollies are a lot more forgiving of those little bodily imperfections than skimpy summer fashions. Then there’s the footwear. No more teetering about on vertiginously high, strappy sandals pretending that your feet aren’t killing you. Now is the season to embrace comfort over style. I am eager to slip into some flat, fleecy boots and the dark, opaque tights that disguise my lumpy legs, the fluffy sweaters to swathe my dinner lady arms and the layers that let me hide my hips – “it’s not me, it’s just the fabric! Honest!” And I haven’t even touched on nightwear!

Actually you really do need a bit of give in the hip department to accommodate the seasonal comfort eating and the fact that an extra inch or two of insulation is essential to keep you warm when that biting north wind comes to call. Think stews, casseroles, creamy mash, champ, sausages and soups. I love soups, but I could never eat them in the summer, it just wouldn’t be right. It would be like eating turkey in July – it goes against the very laws of nature. I would go so far as to say I get obsessive about soup. Last year it was curried parsnip – but it didn’t taste the same if I left the lashings of cream out, and even I tip the odd nod to healthy eating. So, I’m currently overdosing on my new recipe for butternut squash soup – the secret is a good sprinkling of chilli powder and, to make it especially good for you, a scattering of sunflower and pumpkin seeds on top.

Then there’s the wine. It must always be red in winter and again that is excellent news on the health front as it’s the one that’s full of antioxidants and so is, in fact, like drinking a tonic. One, or occasionally two, glasses of wine a night is said to be very beneficial to one’s general well being. I just wonder if those recommendations hold when each of your glasses holds a third of a bottle! And everybody knows that there’s no point in keeping an opened bottle of wine if there’s less than half left in it!

So that’s my reward after taking Ella for a nice walk in the park. I can enjoy the glories of nature, come back tired but happy, light the fire, slip into something a little more comfortable – my fluffy bunny jammies to be precise – have a bowl of stew with a glass of wine and watch a chick flick. Heaven!

Now you can see exactly why I love Autumn! Why we all do!!

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