Autumn

First of all, the above photo, shamelessly lifted from Google Images, cannot fail to sum up why autumn is the best time of year. September is a riot of burnished, rustic oranges, reds and purples, with flurries of yellow as leaves trickle from the trees (and get stuck to your windshield). It’s rich and warm, with the palpable feeling of change in the seasons. And I love it.

The primary reason for my love of autumn is the fact that my birthday is in October; the 16th to be exact. It’s slap-bang in the middle of the season, and the beginning of autumn is kind of a herald for my birthday; when the nights start to draw in, my birthday can’t be far away. And everyone loves their birthday. My sister’s birthday is the 28th of October so it’s always been a celebratory month in our house; autumn brings a lovely sense of happiness for our family. The only downside to my birthday being in October was that I could never have a bouncy castle. But I suspect that this was just an excuse for my mother not to go to the hassle of having thirty six year-olds wreak havoc in the back garden. The date of my birthday is also exactly ten weeks until Christmas Day, so October is a nice little reminder that Christmas is just around the corner. And that can only be a good thing.

Secondly, there really is no feeling like the ‘back to school’ feeling, and it never fails to give me little butterflies in my stomach. Going back to school was so exciting; getting to know your new teacher, seeing who was in your new class, buying new stationary, even shaking up that lunchbox routine. As geeky as it sounds, I loved going into school on my first day back in my new skirt and jumper and discovering the new, more advanced work that was in store for us. I’d nearly wet myself over the new English books like. And since I’ve started college, that back to school feeling hasn’t diminished one bit. You really can’t beat the anticipation of starting new modules and catching up with everyone after the summer. Even though I use a laptop in college, I’m strongly considering buying brand new refill pads and biros so I can experience the ‘new copies and pens’ euphoria again. Even though I’ve probably forgotten how to write since the summer exams…

I will point out that I like summer; us Irish people are in sore need of Vitamin D because of our long winters. A nice few weeks of summer do wonders for the mood of the country; although some Irish people need to learn to dress for the body they have and not the body they want when the sun comes out. But by the end of August, I’ve grown tired of not being able to sleep in due to ultra-bright mornings, and my body is not one which ought to be displayed in hotpants and crop tops. I relish the first sign of a nip in the air, which I felt today as I walked home from work and was just blissful. The evenings start to draw in and there truly is no lovelier smell than the first waft of a turf fire. Which, by the way, is something which is lost on anyone living anywhere outside of rural Ireland.

I couldn’t contain my excitement when I noticed A/W clothing starting to trickle into the shops last week. Even Penneys had me in a tizzy with their gorgeous knitted leggings in maroon, navy, pine green and other autumnal shades for criminally good prices. I live mostly in maroon, navy, gray, black and green; autumn is my palette. Dark skinny jeans, study brown lace-up boots and chunky cardigans are my uniform and autumn facilitates it best. Finding a new winter coat is also a lovely autumn moment; it’s worth the investment as you’ll probably be sleeping in it come Christmas if my parents let the oil run out again.

Hallowe’en is the one little blot on my adoration for autumn. It’s not fun and it generally revolves around alcohol and injuring dogs with fireworks. The former I enjoy, the latter being a special kind of asshattery. People don’t even try to do costume parties properly; it’s like the part of Mean Girls where Lindsay Lohan realises that Hallowe’en is basically an excuse for hot girls to get drunk in public in their lingerie. I’m not a hot girl so I’m somewhat excluded from the revelry in that regard. The fun tends to wear off Hallowe’en costumes when, suddenly, a Pound Shop mask and a bin liner don’t cut the mustard anymore. I did always like monkey nuts though, I must stock up when the shops start stocking them again.

Nevertheless, autumn is just wonderful. My birthday and Christmas are the perfect bookends to a season which also includes my sister’s birthday and that of my boyfriend. Nothing too exceptional happens the rest of the year, but September through to December are all go-go-go for me, and I love it. And it’s nice to be able to drink hot chocolate without breaking out in a sweat because it’s 25° outside. So all in all, autumn is wonderful and I can’t wait to get into the thick of it.