Thank goodness summer's over and it's autumn

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There are two views.

One is that summers are too hot and many of us worry about bushfires so the arrival of a chill in the morning lifts the spirits. We have escaped the burning sun and its burning, unhealthy effect on our skins and the land. Rejoice that it's over.

But the other, gloomier view is that autumn is a sad season. It only leads to winter - and what is there to like about winter? The nights are getting longer. The cold is getting colder. The heating bills are getting bigger.

I take a middling view. Autumn is a welcome relief from summer but it reminds us of winter. All the same, the up side outweighs the down side.

Summers are times to hide away from the heat (unless you're a European tourist on the beach in Bondi where the task is clearly to turn pink and then roast yourself into ill health).

So the passing of summer is welcome - but it is replaced by a luxurious melancholy. Autumnal is the word, and just to say it is to hint at sadness. Some of us like the joy of melancholy.

The colours! The colours! All those golds and russets and fading yellows as the deciduous trees imported from Europe make their transition to winter. They will be somewhere near you, maybe in a botanic garden in a city, maybe on a street, and definitely in the Blue Mountains.

And the fruit gets better.

It is worth holding off from buying fruits until they come fully into season - and that season for so many fruits is now. It's autumn.

Wait until the apples and pears are softening ripe and eat them in the chill of the morning with cheese, ideally a slightly bitter cheese or a blue cheese.

John Keats got autumn right (at least for Europe and south-eastern Australia) when he called it the "season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; Conspiring with him how to load and bless with fruit the vines".

Autumn is the time to eat the fruit of the vines. There is nothing quite like a small bag of sugar also known as a grape when it is fully-ripened and plump with juice ("And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core," as Keats put it.)

There are people for whom the melancholy can be too much.

There is such a medical ailment as Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD. It's a kind of depression which tends to happen in autumn and winter. Nobody quite understands its causes. It may be that shorter days and less daylight could trigger some sort of chemical change in the brain.

But for most of us, autumn brings a happy melancholy. Don't think about winter too much. It's too early for that. It'll come fast enough.

HAVE YOUR SAY: Are you welcoming the cooler days of autumn? What is your favourite season? Are you looking forward to a particular fruit coming into season now? Email your response to echidna@theechidna.com.au.

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THEY SAID IT: "Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree."- Emily Bronte.

YOU SAID IT: Jenna shared her experiences of driving. Her take-away was that having another person telling you what to do helps (nagging was the word).

Helen said: " I was brought up by a firm but fair Dad who made me wait a year after I was old enough to get my learner's permit."

"I laughed at hitting the pole," Sally wrote. "I did that when testing for my license but thankfully I still passed, but then again that was 60 years ago. No way would I let my kids use my car, they had to get their own."

Trevor confessed, "I bought my first car BEFORE I got my driving licence! And in my first year I had several 'accidents' that, looking back from a nearly 70-year driving history, I was lucky to survive my first year of driving."

Karen didn't have her own car when learning to drive, but did get her own within 12 months, "and yes, had a minor bingle". "When my kids learnt to drive I had several rules which I think really made a difference. They only drove with me, the instructor, while learning. I have seen so many with the whole family in the car. I know they need to get their hours up but how can they concentrate on driving with the rest of the family in the car. No radio or music playing - once again no distractions, there are enough on the road. When they got their licence: no passengers for the first few weeks and then only family for the next few months."