I love the bright, crisp days, the vibrant leaf colours and the hedgerow bounty. I delight in the dew decked spiderwebs that are so lavish at this time of year. Autumn offers a great deal of beauty.
The frost in the grass of an early morning is both beautiful and something I dread. Being cold has a significant impact on my already stiff and often sore body. Autumn is a guessing game - how mild will it be? How soon will it grow harsh?
Every year I try and improve my cold weather strategies. Good base layers get more done than extra jumpers, and allow more freedom of movement. I like blankets for snuggling in, and I also like making blankets, so that works out well.
In terms of energy efficiency, the best thing to focus on is heating the person,not the space. These can be greener choices. However, cold spaces are more likely to develop damp problems, and mould, and being cold, damp and mouldy is not a healthy choice. So while focusing most on keeping people warm is a good idea, you do need to take care of the whole space you are in so as to avoid creating further problems. That not everyone can afford to do this is a sign of the gross injustice in our current societies.
Insulation is of course a good way of keeping heat in your space. I'm currently working on a draft excluder because the front door could use some attention. I'm re-using dead fabric, and I'm making something cute and whimsical because being practical should also be fun. One year I used old jeans to make a dragon draft excluder, but that was a tad more labour intensive than I feel equal to at the moment.
I want the autumn to be about getting out to enjoy what's going on as much as possible. I also want to curl into snuggly nest making, with warm, comfortable places to read and dream and pass away the more inclement evenings.
There is no wrong way of responding to a season. However the conditions impact on you, that's your mammal body responding to the wheel of the year. If you don't neatly align with other people's stories about the seasons, that's fine. Hibernating mammals are stuffing their faces right now. Squirrels are busy hoarding. Migrants deal with winter by leaving. Some creatures do much the same things all year round. It's all good.
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