Turning over new leaves

Autumn - shorter days, chilly mornings, longer shadows, falling leaves and more falling  leaves. As the weather turns from sunshine to autumnal breezes, my allergies kick in with a vengeance. Just as the rest of the world packs away their antihistamines for yet another summer season, I start stocking up on mine.

I am allergic to mold - leaf mold and damp mold for sure and this time of year, as the gardens get filled with dropping leaves wet with October rain, I start sneezing.  And sneezing, and sneezing.  My teeth ache with sinus pain and my inner ears gets itchier by the minute. What a pain in the neck.  I take all kinds of meds to cope with this, but the only ones that really work make me too sleepy to function normally, so usually I just stockpile tissues and scare off everyone with the loudness and violence of my sneezing. It does make me long for winter - if not for the short, dark days that are approaching.

I also become irritable.  'What???' I hear you say. 'How is that possible?'  What I meant to say was I become even more iirritable and short-tempered and snappy.  This makes living with me tough, for myself and my beloved.  I try and temper my words and think before words come spewing forth from my mouth, but alas, I am rarely successful in this.  What this means is that our Saturday morning walks together become sparring matches with me snapping and Ralph challenging my snapping and me denying that I am snapping and so on and so on. What a comedy and how ridiculous that this happens with such regularity. After 41 years together it seems thatwe can't let any of these moments pass unremarked on.

Maybe this is a good thing.  It certainly keeps us on our toes and means that in those moments of taking the other for granted we remind each other that it is not a good way to relate.  Fundamentally and totally there is always love and this helps, heals and brings humour back.  Necessary when life is such an allergic mess.

Almost a year ago I wrote about our Saturday morning  shopping expeditions, with our bags over our arms and the local shopkeepers chat to enliven the day.  We still do this and it really has become an essential weekend routine.  No matter how much work there is to do, what chores remain undone, we always find time for our little walks together and of course, lunch.  Lately it's Japanese.  A delightful little place down the road run by what I think are husband and wife.  Very calm, quiet and very slow, but we're in no rush.  The food is great, we talk and catch up and laugh together.

The chill in the air and the different colours on the trees signal another summer passing, another winter approaching.  I love the routine and seeing another year go by.  I hate the sneezing. I look forward to winter. Now there's something I never thought I'd hear myself saying.