Finally stay inside
4 reasons why I learned to love autumn in the autumn of life
I stay here!
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Until her mid-50s, Susanne Arndt considered herself a born sun-worshipper. Now she realizes: In the autumn of life, autumn isn’t so bad.
I am a proven sun worshiper and enjoy a corresponding reputation. Friends put hats on my head and express their condolences as soon as the thermometer drops below 15 degrees: “Poor you. tea!?” Everyone knows: I love the south and hate the cold.
Chimney? I am my own oven
At least that’s what I always believed myself. But in the autumn of life, a lot of things change. Among other things, I began to celebrate the cold, wet German autumn weather as I did the sultry tropics when I was younger. Firstly because of the all the heat that my body now produces itself, so I can now do without the warming rays of the sun. But also because of that all the darkness outside my window that allows me Going to bed very early in the evening with a book, series, cell phone, tea, alcohol, husband or everything at the same time and not getting up until the alarm clock forces me to do so in the morning.
Finally no more “warm summer evenings” that I have to “enjoy”.
I noticed last summer and on my last vacation in Italy: Sun can also be annoying. It’s bright and makes you sweat, blisters on your heels, and exposes physical inadequacies by condemning you to leave the house scantily clad. Which brings us to the most important point: going outside. The sun forces me to do it whether I want it or not, and I want it less and less. But when I stay inside when the sun is shining, I get a bout of “fear of missing out.” I imagine that everyone outside is happily strolling hand in hand in the sun, eating ice cream sundaes with brittle and kissing by the water, and of course I want to join in. On the other hand, if the weather is uncomfortable, I can stay inside, indulge in living and not miss anything.
This year I slipped into autumn for the first time like my hand into a well-fitting glove. Because this merciful transitional period between summer and winter has no expectations of me and lets me do what I want in peace and, above all, leave it alone – in my own four walls, in the same sweatpants. Every now and then a bag of popcorn in a dark cinema or hearty dumplings in a restaurant only dimly lit by candles – what more could I want? Autumn is my new friend and we’ll go through thick and thin together, that’s for sure. Even when the last pumpkin has rotted in the compost and all the colorful leaves have been blown over the Jordan by the leaf blowers.