I’ve been having an internal debate about whether to give myself a few days grace before writing this end-of-autumn blog post. Last week was a really frustrating one on multiple levels – we were all ready for it to be over before we’d even made it to Tuesday lunchtime – and I worried my grumpiness might be too tricky to hide.

But the whole reason for starting these quarterly posts was to focus on the positives and put the daily frustrations in perspective. And so, on we go, with a celebration of what John Keats called the ‘season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’.

We have certainly had a season of mists here, with a Bridgewater Jerry thundering down the River Derwent on a good number of mornings. We’ve also had beautifully warm and bright t-shirt days, howling gales, torrential rain, snow on kunanyi, and that sweet, soft, perfect light that defines autumn in Lutruwita/Tasmania.

I’m looking at the notes app on my phone, where I jot down things that have sparked joy, and I have quite a few more than 10 this time round. I’ll include them all, because only a very silly goose would rank their joys and drop the bottom ones off the list.

But I will also try and keep my descriptions shorter, so we’re not here all day. You’re generous readers, but I know that I push my luck with the 2000 word posts that pop up every so often.

Enough preamble.

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