‘Luruh’ is a Malay word for I think, ‘fall’. It is now ‘fall’ again – or autumn – and this morning being the first day of ‘Luruh’ the weather was noticeably more crisped than in recent days. I labored through my 7km run but quickly cooled down instead of sweating like a pig. On warm summer mornings, I’d finish my run and still be sweating half 20-30 minutes later after even after getting on the train. I love the cooler weather.

Soon there’d be leaves covering the footpaths, lawns, even cars. The good news is in a few weeks the lawn would stop growing like a teenager so the lawnmower need not be dragged out quite as often but the bad news is there’d be a lot of raking and blowing of fallen leaves and the gutter would clog up again. The days would also be shorter and the winter woolies would be out soon after. I would not be able to throw the windows wide open as I do now.

Last night I was in my study room for a few hours –studying McGraths ‘Christian Theology’ (while waiting for my copy of Millard Erickson to arrive via Amazon) and trying to digest Theology 101 with a bit of Mozart in the background. A glass of crisp Sauvignon Blanc – ubiquitous over the summer months – sat on my table, which would soon – perhaps in 2-3 weeks –replaced by glasses of Shiraz to see me through the winter. Winter is nice like that – huddled up in a room with a book and beautiful music and a glass of heartwarming nature’s gift. This wild topsy-turvy summer (floods, cyclones, uprisings, carbon tax and Ashes pain) is finally over. Welcome back, Luruh. Stay awhile.