Autumn break

When I was little my mum used to take me shopping for a winter coat in the autumn break. It was easy to remember when the autumn break was since my brother's birthday was always somewhere in that week. So for me the autumn break always marked the proper beginning of the autumn and it getting colder again. The first day after the break I always cycled to school proudly showing off my new coat. With the buttons still undone, since invariably it was still slightly too warm for the new coat with toggles. Or whatever closing method was in vogue that season.

The last time I got myself a new coat was when we still lived in Rotterdam, what now seems like a lifetime ago. A long green duffel coat with deep pockets and a long zipper. It has done a good job over the years, protecting me from the cold in St Petersburg and seeing me through New Year's Eve on the Red Square (Jonny's arms around me also helped or was it the vodka we consumed?). By now the zipper has stopped functioning so it would only keep me warm those first few days after the autumn break.

Unlike yesteryear, not everybody in the Netherlands has the autumn break in the same week. When you break is now determined by the region you live in. So I am not sure if our region now officially has the autumn break or whether it is next week. Regardless, since it is my brother's birthday this week, I think it is time to go out and find myself a new winter coat.

I will then cycle, with the buttons of my new coat undone of course, to the lovely vegetable stall where I get our fruit and veg from. They now have wonderful big pumpkins on display, a large variety of mushrooms, cranberries and many different apples. Bye bye to salads, hello stews and soups!