First Autumn Leaf of the Year

I can hardly believe that it is September already! And as much as I love autumn, as much as I think it may even be my favourite season, I don't really feel like we have had a proper summer yet.

I was going to post about how all the magazines proclaiming the fashions for autumn make me feel like shouting back 'but it is summer!' (despite all efforts of the weather to suggest otherwise!) but...I was walking to work yesterday, when a beautiful, large sycamore leaf, edges tinged orange fell at my feet. Suddenly, I realised that like it or not, September is the month that brings us the end of summer and the beginning of autumn.

I am particularly enamoured of this September, because the 1st fell on a Monday. I love when it is a new month and and a new week. September feels like a little new-year to me, because it is the time of back-to-school, newly sharpened pencils, fresh exercise books and new beginnings.

Sometimes I feel like I don't get time to pause, to halt for a moment and take it all in. So I took today off work, just so I could settle and realise that this is September, this is now. It may sound odd, but I really wanted to take a new pencil and write 'Monday 1st September 2008' on a fresh piece of paper on Monday, but I never quite got to it. So today is my day for pondering and absorbing the new month.

I have a lovely friend coming for lunch later, and this evening I am going to meet some work friends for a drink after work. I never, ever go for a drink after work, or a drink at anytime really, so I am really looking forward to it. I am going to iron my prettiest dress, and am even thinking of pinning my hair up, after I scrunched it out of the way at work yesterday, and several people sweetly said that it looks good up. You know, after being with my dear Carl for seven years, and married for one, it has been a long long time since I walked into a pub alone. I feel a bit shy and nervous, but at the same time pleased to be stepping out and being brave alone.

I have been listening to this a lot today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAwR6w2TgxY

I really love the quirkiness of the music, to me it sounds a little Bjorkey. Alice is one of my favourite children's films too. When I was a little girl, there was a drapery called Wenlocks in town, and it had a large display window, in which would be a bed, made up with bedding that you could buy inside. For a month or so they had Alice in Wonderland bedding on display; one side was scenes from the film, and the other was pink hearts on a white background. I saved up my pocket money for weeks to buy it. I thought that Mum had thrown it out years ago, when I moved away; when I stayed with her the night before my wedding, I got to sleep in my brothers bed, and when I walked into his bedroom, the bed was made up with that very duvet set!

I hope that you are having a scrumptious September day today, whatever you may be doing!