October in the Chair

For some, born in October like me, autumn comes early and stays throughout life. This is, always, the time for rain, and for the storms rolling in. The time for listening to Elliott Smith and Múm. For a runny nose and headaches. For peat and wood smoke in the air, and red and brown and yellow leaves rotting in the gutter. For cold mornings and warm beds, and long walks in the hills. For stories of faeries and trolls and dark things. For skulls and spiderwebs and the first testing fingers of frost. For sausages and strong beer. The eternal reminder that, regardless of how much oil we burn and how much plastic we produce, winter and death are coming.