at last, the yearly autumn post

 Late November .... and I haven’t done an Autumn post yet!   How dare I so neglect Autumn ....this most mercifully murky of seasons ...

Ah, the tonal shifts of autumn....  the soft blending of light and dark.  Like that late October evening, when I was walking home from work via some quiet back-streets, far from the roaring traffic. The weather was mild, people still kept their windows open.   Some piano music came drifting out of a window – the Goldberg variations. 

And then comes November,  with its chilly foggy greyness. Its wet darkness, even in the middle of the day.  But when I step out of the office building, at lunch time, the head buzzing with worries, the stomach anxiously clenched - hey, look - I feel like cheering - what with this whimsical wind subversively blowing stray leaves  into the revolving door.   And how intensely, satisfyingly ,autumnal the street looks – the cars having their lights up, people hurrying with hunched shoulders, their heads bowed, struggling with fiery gusts of rain.  

Now don't think I'm an urban, gloomy autumn snob and that I  would shun nature's spectacular autumn colours. It's just that my humble compact camera is better suited to capture murky shades than exploding colours.