Autumnal Ramblings is a procrastination post.
I’ve written many such posts over the years. In fact the list of my displacement activities to avoid writing is probably into its second volume by now. Dogs are incredibly useful for this because they genuinely need things like walks, feeding, brushing and playtime. My children are less useful than they used to be because they’ve grown up. My son has left home and my daughter is about to do the same for the third and final time as she’s buying her first home with her partner. My husband, who also works from home is two floors up in the loft conversion and only really interrupts me for coffee breaks and lunch.
No matter. I don’t need help to procrastinate. My brain just does it. Knowing how badly I need to finish my Halloween short story before I go away next week, I was just about to open it when I remembered several vital admin tasks that needed to be done. Prior to that I was on my way to my desk when it occurred to me it would do me good to spend a bit of time in the garden before settling down. Now, with the admin done, I realised it was a while since I’d written a post. You get the picture here.
It won’t be a long post but I’ve been thinking over the past few days how much I’m enjoying autumn this year. I always used to love autumn but for the past few years a lot of family stuff has been going on at this time of year and I think I rather forgot to slow down, look around and appreciate the breathtaking variety of colours. This year that has come back to me and it’s an unexpected and much appreciated blessing.
I can’t manage really long walks at the moment as I’m awaiting my second hip replacement, which I’m hoping will be done in February. Luckily I don’t need to go far to get the best of autumn. We live in a tree-lined road and have a good-sized garden with two beautiful beech trees.
The garden is in need of a good tidy-up before winter and I’m a bit behind with that. Some of it is time related but a lot is my usual reluctance to prune and cut back when things are still flowering. We’ve had a few windy days lately so my big dahlias and the roses have taken a battering. I’ve been bringing some of the late roses indoors so that I can appreciate them. They don’t last long but they make me smile.
This morning I sat on the bench at the back of the garden to drink my tea and enjoy watching the birds at the feeders. I do this so often that some of them, particularly the hooded crows have got very tame. They completely ignore my presence and carry on with breakfast. quite close by. Alfie used to scare them off by barking at them but he’s got very relaxed about it these days and just lets them get on with it.
We’ve had a good year in the garden, probably because we’ve had more time to work on it. Through most of the spring and summer we spent all weekend out there and it’s paid off. For the first time I managed a proper wildflower patch. It wasn’t easy because the mixed seeds take time to grow and my husband prowls restlessly with a hoe and his favourite weeder, intermittently muttering things like “Are you sure those aren’t just weeds coming up? How can you tell?” He managed to control the urge to dig everything up though and the results were spectacular. They’re coming to an end now but there are still enough flowers to make me reluctant to clear it just yet.
My dogs take different views of early morning tea outside. Alfie likes to prowl, walking round the perimeter fences on sentry duty, checking if anything has changed overnight and stopping regularly to mark his territory just in case. Oscar will happily wander for a while but then comes to sit with me on the bench. It’s one of his favourite things and has been since he was tiny. He’ll just sit next to me watching the birds and sniffing the air and then eventually snuggles down with his head on my lap patiently waiting for me to give him the last mouthful of tea. I’d never come across a dog who liked tea until Oscar. It’s very companionable.
Eventually Alfie feels that he’s made the garden safe for us again and comes for his share of cuddles, pushing his head in between Oscar and I for strokes and attention. With the tea finished I’m getting colder and it’s time to go inside. Alfie heads straight for the sofa in my study but Oscar waits in the kitchen patiently, making sure I don’t start procrastinating by starting some chore. He knows what I’m like and actually herds me into the study eventually, only settling once I’m at my desk with my laptop open. Then he can relax. This is a daily ritual and always makes me smile because Joey, my much-loved yellow Labrador used to do exactly the same thing. Perhaps he taught Oscar how to do it.
Sometimes procrastination is a disaster, but I don’t think days like this are a problem. I recently read an article and I wish I could remember where, about writers feeling the need to treat their work as a nine to five job and trying desperately to glue themselves to their desk during office hours. That can sometimes help if I’m really off course with work but mostly I’ve learned that so much of the writing process goes on in my head before I ever type a word. I can visualise a scene while I’m walking the dogs or weeding the garden and it probably makes my actual writing time far more effective.
I probably have rambled enough now but I’m not sorry. I think this post is really about thankfulness for where life has brought me. The view from my window is a joy through every season and the view behind me is even more precious.
Right. Now it actually is time to get back to October 1812 and the approach of Halloween, or Hop tu Naa as the Manx call it. Wish me luck.
