Autumn tea.
By impactEDnurse • Mar 6th, 2010 • Category: not just a nurse.
[Photo credit: garryknight ]
Supine on the bed.
Listening to the tunk, tunk, tunk of a large crow hopping on the roof tiles.
Down to the drainpipe, where it pauses to scrape its beak a bit, before tunking back up to the ridge-cap and repeating.
Flip back the covers and down to the kettle.
Not wanting to turn on any lights, I pause before the single step in the hallway, to feel forward with my toes for its widow-maker edge.
It is still dark outside, false dawn curled back by a powdering of autumn prophecy.
Through the kitchen window I can just make out the green greyscale shapes of the nearest wattle tree, its branches waterlogged and low from the overnight rain.
Beneath the tree lies a bucket shadow of an overturned flowerpot, dragged from its place to the center of the lawn by my crazy dog.
Beyond this, the world seems wrapped in a cool, flannelet inertia, and in sympathy I choose tea rather than coffee, flipping the bag from the box into the cup with a propeller flourish that I could not possibly match were I not half asleep.
Autumn is my favourite time, as it slows to the pace of chocolate browns and mustard yellows, and wet leaf mulch and silver slug trails, and sweet woodsmoke song.
Short, crisp sunny days that demand to be enjoyed before they dim down into the long freezing bland of winter.
I stand before the window and sip the hot tea. Holding the cup just below my lips, the rising steam warms my face.
For a long while I just stand there on the chilly tiles and examine the pale autumn ghost standing in its underpants, out amongst the wattle branches.
impactEDnurse is also known as Ian Miller, a nurse with over 26 years experience working in a busy emergency department in, Australia. This site in no way reflects the opinions of that hospital.
All stories (although based on actual experiences) have been changed to protect patient confidentiality.
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awesome writing, how impressing. that is my inspiration for the day, i want to write like you.
Beautiful Ian.
Thanks so much – you put words to the feelings on these beautiful crisp early morning shifts as i stare out the window with my cuppa
(right before i stumble AoverT over something the dog left on the middle of the floor…..)
This has just made me incredibly homesick.