To be loving earlier darker nights in my 50s

[sugarplumlily]

I used to crave the sun. I do still like it. But this year, for the first time ever, the darker evenings are already feeling comforting and calm. I’ve never had this feeling at this time of year before. I am looking forward to the cold fresh air, winter walks, the rain, and just breathing it all in.

Has anyone else felt like they suddenly like winter more as they’ve aged?

YABU - winter sucks
YANBU - winter is wonderful

No way. I hate the evenings closing in!

Most of my hobbies are outdoors based even more so as I age so no, I don't relish the shorter days. I will be glad to see the back of the sweltering weather and its impact on nature though.

I hated the hot weather! No energy. Just can’t tolerate it these days.
Bring on the winter and dark nights - the coal fire
snuggled up on the sofa watching tv with a glass of wine 🍷

I understand this. However, I’ve found I like to walk and run in the dark now. It feels like I own the space when it’s quiet and darker.

Ooo yes with a chilli bubbling in the slow cooker and a new book to read, with cashmere socks on and a weighted blanket 😄

"The Autumn day its course has run – the Autumn evening falls,
Already risen the Autumn moon gleams quiet on these walls."

Charlotte Brontë

This is always my favourite time of the year for running, from now until Xmas. There’s something almost a big magical about running in the dark and the cold.

I’m looking forward to hibernating- love the change of seasons. Blankets, scented candles and hot chocolates are calling me!! It has taken me by surprise it’s getting dark by 8pm though!!

Love it!!

love it. 🧦🥂

Yes it’s suddenly darker right. I’ve bought some William Wordsworth poetry to really get into the nature and wilderness feel 😂 I might read it by candlelight 😂

Could it be different this year due to how hot the summer was. I love hot summer weather but I also really like autumn and the ‘cosy’ days and nights but only after a good and long summer.

Im also in my 50s and due to losing a cousin last year who would have had a big birthday this month and it being 40 years since my mum died this month too, I've been reflecting. Strangely I bumped into someone I have known all my life but see only rarely today who came to mind only yesterday.

This month and the nights drawing in has reminded me of school holidays from about 8 till 13 years old. We'd play something all day. One year we kept a bonfire going all summer. But from about 7 until 10 it would be hide and seek....the earlier it got dark the better. But that meant holidays were ending. August is the month when you really notice the nights drawing in. Really notice it. And towards the end you realise that summer is ending, it's gone yellow and there is no new growth.

So I'm melancholic. Thinking of days that were. But I've been lucky. Some people have had one peak, top of the mountain time. Brian Adams "summer of 69", Mary Hopkins "those were the days" "glory days " by Springsteen are all about people reflecting on the best time of their lives, the one perfect period, which is in the past and will never happen again. Me I've had at least 8 periods when I felt that life couldn't get any better and if I was to die then and there, I would go happy and fulfilled and I know that other times will come

I’m looking forward to feeling chill enough to snuggle under a blanket! Love my weighted one.

also - love socks. Hate bare feet.

while autumn is my favourite season, i like the turning of the seasons and the changes. I enjoy the nights starting to close in but by late Jan I’ll be well over it and looking forward to spring.

Totally magic. Deeply connecting to the land.

Possibly. But I’ve lived in hot countries before and liked the heat then. I almost feel like in the autumn of my life, I’m more in tune with autumn. 🍂 I felt the summer was harsh, exposing and I hardly slept this year.

"Wild is the music of autumnal winds amongst the faded woods"

William Wordsworth

I’m also reading Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and its dark subject matter is matching the weather. I’m so happy. I wish I had a local book club for winter evenings.

I just love it all.

Sorry I hate autumn and winter and it’s worse this year because of the summer

I love the darker nights

Thanks, I read a lot of poetry!

It's always been my favourite time of year, though the heat does seem to bother me more now than perhaps it did when I was young, so that's another reason to prefer autumn, winter, and early spring over summer.

My mother seems to dislike winter now, because she's become more sensitive to the cold. I'm hoping I won't be the same, because as it is, I'm happy with three out of four seasons, which isn't bad!

I love getting cosy in autumn/winter but I’m actually dreading the dark nights already. I’m in the highlands so the darkness feels a bit never ending, and I always feel trapped here until spring.