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Autumn in August
Autumn in August
According to the Met Office, summer officially ends at the end of August. And it’s certainly been feeling autumnal here for a while now. It’s not just the low temperatures and rainy skies, there’s a feel to the air that only comes at this time of year, a slowing down and settling in, a preparation for the year’s end.
I love autumn. In fact, I love all the seasons and look forward to each one: spring with its blue skies and birdsong and plants coming into life, summer with warm evenings, hot days and open-windowed nights, winter with frosty mornings, rainy walks and cosy evenings in.
But autumn is a special favourite. There’s something about that back-to-school feel, the crispness in the mornings, the misty mornings, the tang of bonfire smoke, the turning leaves, the conkers on the ground. Harvest time and combine harvesters graze the fields, returning home late and blocking the lanes so no cars can pass!
It’s a time for new beginnings, for knuckling down after the lazy summer days.With the coolness I can feel my brain clicking into gear. My thoughts turn to new projects, new ideas.
The evenings are drawing in. Now it’s dark by nine o’clock. But I don’t mind. With the curtains drawn and the fire lit, it’s time for tea and crumpets, evenings watching a film, curling up on the sofa for a long read.
And now that we can’t go for long walks after dinner I have more time to work on my website, plan my next book, find myself a literary agent.
So, while other people are bemoaning the coming winter, putting away their t shirts and flip-flops with a sigh, I’m looking forward to the next season, to my winter coats, warm socks and boots and scarves and gloves.
Bethany Askew is the author of eight novels: The Time Before, The World Within, Out of Step, Counting the Days, Poppy's Seed, Three Extraordinary Years The Two Saras and I Know You, Don't I? She has also written a short story, The Night of the Storm, and she writes poetry. Two more women’s fiction books have been accepted for publication in 2020 and 2021 respectively and she is currently working on a new novel. In her spare time she enjoys reading, music, theatre, walking, Pilates, dancing and voluntary work. Bethany is married and lives in Somerset.