Weekender 23: Autumn Comes Now

Everybody's gone surfin'

Nope. They all wanted to, but instead have decided to cut short their vacation to return to England en masse. We're not the smartest animals are we.

Was it wise to have a foreign holiday at this time? Understandable, obviously. For working class families they will want their money's worth, probably unable (i have no idea) to get a refund due to virus majeure. However, that aside, I'm not sure it was wise to allow foreign holidays. Inevitably they promote a mass gathering of people (for the most part). But again that also hurts the working class as that kind of experience is more likely the holiday they will go for, which is fine even if that sounds snobbish. (It probably is.)

However, and once again governmental stupidity rears its ugly head, we now have the covid equivalent of shouting FIRE! in the market square. By giving the impression, imagined or actual, that certain countries are going to be quarantined people are now massing to return in order to avoid the consequences. 

This is bad for one reason: if we assume that some of these people will now have the virus (hence the call for quarantine - otherwise it'd be safe, right?) then having them avoid quarantine increases the likelihood of spreading it. That is the point of quarantine. So now they all come back early unwittingly contributing to increased proliferation of the virus.

In reality the chances may well be quite low, but as with all things Tory and covid - we just don't know!

And finally....the season's are beginning to turn. The nights draw in more noticeably, the air is fresher. Summer isn't done yet. It is still warm and pleasant, but the bite of mystery can be felt. The kiss of Autumn. It is a time of year, between two stultifying seasons with all their charms (even Winter, sometimes), I like. 

Autumn always invokes the mystery in life. The silvering of the light inspires a melancholy but also an energy to go deeper. I enjoy that. I always seek to channel that energy, but never quite manage it. The purpose: to find a spirituality that works. I do not believe in gods and devils, but in mystery. The language of tradition and ritual that connects us to the core of life: the living world. That alone is mysterious and divine enough without having to believe in the language thereof. Gods and ghosts are a metaphor, but a bit of mysticism and superstition isn't necessarily a bad thing as long as it doesn't limit you and your interactions. That's the problem with organised belief.

As Autumn - this even stranger Corona Autumn - unfolds I shall seek to make that connection.