Autumn melancholy

We are enjoying a few sunny days just now, but there is a decidedly autumnal nip in the early morning and evening air. As the evenings draw in, but it isn't yet cold or dark enough for cosy fires and welcoming lights, I have a tendency towards melancholy. Nothing serious, you understand, I am boringly optimistic in my outlook on life, but I find myself listening to the blues and reading more poetry than usual; I look out my 'comfort books', take up the knitting needles and dig out the unfinished quilts. I suppose it is the opposite of spring-cleaning: I'm getting ready to snuggle down for the winter but feeling a bit sad about the passing of summer.

We have had two consecutive rainy summers so perhaps we can all be forgiven for feeling a bit gloomy about the approach of winter. One of the casualties of the rain has been our family gathering at Westonbirt in July, for an open air concert and champagne picnic. The last one we attended was in 2006, when we saw Van Morrison. Thinking of that, I have been listening to his Veedon Fleece album - just the right sentiments for my current mood. I was going to share some of it here but, surprisingly, there isn't any on YouTube, my search was not in vain, however, because I came across a wonderful clip title: If Van Morrison wrote a song about Emily Dickinson .... The song is The Belle of Amhurst by the band Quoting Napoleon. Perfect for a melancholy Thursday. Watch out for Caspar David Friedrich's 'Woman at the Window', which I featured in a post in September.