Autumn, My Favourite

Here in Estonia, autumn is in full bloom, and honestly, I couldn’t be happier. It makes me want to slow down, step outside, take a deep breath and soak it all in.

I love all the seasons, each for its own reasons, but autumn is the one I always come back to. Maybe it’s the colours that get me first: golden browns, soft oranges, deep reds and purples, and all those greens that grow richer and darker as the days shorten. The summer sun gives way to a softer, golden light, and everything looks a little different. Even the air changes, especially after rain, when the forest smells fresh and earthy, as if the whole world has just been washed clean.

And the forest walks! I love wandering among the trees, noticing little things, watching the colours change, seeing what nature has been quietly preparing all summer. Berries, mushrooms, roots, seeds, herbs. Nature’s pantry is overflowing, and I love this season of gathering.

Maybe that is what I love most about autumn: its depth, its maturity. Summer is all long days and endless possibilities. Autumn draws me inward. I gather what I need, appreciate what has grown, and slowly begin to let go, not all at once, but in its own time, the way the trees let their leaves fall before the stillness of winter.

I notice it in myself, too. My taste changes with the season. I reach for earthy, bitter-sweet flavours, warm soups and hearty stews, tea fragrant with spices. My wardrobe follows along, of course. Give me golden brown, rusty orange, forest green, burgundy and plum, and I am a happy woman.

Autumn is also when I return to my Hidden Herbarium, adding little discoveries and favourite recipes to its pages. I love collecting these small pieces of seasonal life in one place, in a book that changes as I do. This year I found dandelion root coffee, and I’m already curious about a roasted chicory and cinnamon latte.

Then, as the evenings draw in, comes my other favourite part. A good paper book, a few candles, the scent of orange peel and warming spices drifting through the room, something delicious in my cup. Outside, rain tapping on the window, the forest slowly disappearing into the dark. Inside, warmth, quiet, and nowhere else I need to be.

So tell me, what do you love most about autumn? The colours, the forest walks, the food, those cosy evenings? Or does your heart belong to another season?