It creeps in slowly, this time of year. You have to have a sharp eye and a nose for the weather to notice it in the first few days of the month. I suppose it's like a rollercoaster, inching slowly along as we cling to the last warm evenings and the heat retained by the pavements after months of sun, before suddenly the seasons go into freefall - the mornings getting darker day by day, the temperature dropping half a degree at a time, muted then vivid shades of orange, red, yellow and brown flooding into the leaves. I think the leaves are the first thing I notice starting to change where I live, because there are so many trees. 

But then every so often a day like today comes along - it's currently 24 degrees outside with a cornflower blue cloudless sky, and I am wearing a summer dress and no socks. To me September always seems like a dance between summer and autumn, where sometimes one is a step ahead and other days we have both in tandem or taking it in turns as the day wears on, but ultimately you know that autumn is going to finish on top.

I associate this time of year so strongly with going back to school and university. After 18 years of education my mind and body clock are hardwired into the academic calendar, and I see the beginning of a new school year as far more of a chance to start over than in the New Year, in spite of the narratives around resolutions that inevitably crop up around that time.

It's also very bizarre to think that although I'm going back to uni, I'm not going back to *my* uni. I keep catching myself thinking that I'm heading to Durham for another year, which I could easily have done, playing it safe and familiar and living with other friends who have decided to do Masters courses there or have found jobs in the area. But I decided last year that I wanted to step outside my comfort zone and go somewhere completely different for my Masters so I need to remind myself that I chose Brighton for a reason, and I need to stop mentally comparing it to Durham. I'm also not trying to tell myself that I will love it straight away without question - because you can never tell how these things are going to go - but I hope it will become another second home in the same way that my little city up north has.

This has been more of an introspective post but I like to do them once in a while, especially when big changes are coming up. Wish me luck with the move and the new start - more blog posts will be coming (including a room tour) when the internet is finally installed in the new house later in the month.

x