The Nights draw in by Colin Such
Posted 11/2/2017 3:03:38 PM
I love this time of year although logically I shouldn’t.
The clocks have changed and from now on it will be darker earlier and for longer, the weather is colder and wetter and the time for sitting out in the garden is over. And yet I still love this time of year – it’s a time for snuggling up in front of the fire with a cuppa and a book (or probably this year I’ll have a puppy either side being stroked while I try to balance a book on my lap).
All sorts of things will now begin to change and whilst I’ll miss the warm sunny days there will be other things to enjoy.
Mornings will be either bright, frosty and crisp or dull, grey and foggy. The garden will be wet and muddy most of the time and no doubt the kitchen floor covered with muddy paw prints.
Soon (from the sound of the weather forecasts very soon) I’ll be fetching out the winter coat and possibly gloves and scarves will follow fairly close behind.
The walks around the Lime Pits will be cold and will probably have the sort of damp feeling that seeps into the bones. The hot cup of coffee afterwards however will seem even hotter.
Soon Christmas lights will appear (I’m surprised I haven’t seen any already as they seem to get earlier every year) and as soon as the Halloween stock has been cleared off the shelves the shops will be full of Christmas produce.
It’s time to start cooking stews and casseroles and to get the jumpers out of the cupboard.
Of course, this anticipation of the changing season will no doubt wear thin if we have a sustained run of wet cold miserable days but I hope I’ll remind myself of the benefits of having a change and will enjoy even them.
The church year also changes as the beginning of November sees All Saints’ Day and the beginning of the kingdom season. After the long months of “Ordinary Time” which began on Trinity Sunday we now change our focus to the Kingdom of God as we approach Advent when we will anticipate the coming of the King.
December will no doubt be taken up with all the preparations for Christmas but November gives us an opportunity to celebrate the changing year and to be glad we can close the doors and snuggle up.
As we do we remember those who can’t, countless refugees abroad but also those in our town who can’t afford to heat their home and eat or the homeless who seek somewhere warm to sleep and so our support of the Glebe Centre becomes even more important. As the season changes around us may our care for each other and for the vulnerable remain constant.
Colin