November is here. The sign beside the door states “closed” – probably until next summer. One nice thing with the dark part of the autumn – when I am longing for the snow to lighten up the world – is the warm light that is spreading from windows, lanterns, headlights on cars and candles. Warm and comforting. Dressed in a warm coat and with warm boots a walk in the dark looking at all lights can be a pure pleasure.

The darkness is in its way non-demanding. It is alright to spend the evening at home, curled up in the sofa with a book – being unproductive. In the agricultural pre-modern society the autumn and winter was the calm and slow part of the year – the energetic seasons being the spring and the summer. Of course hard work during the winter was needed and it is hard to imagine a life (especially up north in our harsh climate in the winter) without all the conveniences of modern society. But, the pace slowed down significantly during the winter. I was surprised when I read about it – but when I had given it some thought it seemed very reasonable.

During the spring and summer we are power boosted by sun, warmth and growth and during the winter we have to be economical with our resources and need to rest and consolidate ourselves – waiting for the spring and light.