A Word for Autumn, by A.A. Milne

October 13, 2014 1:51 AM

"There is a crispness about celery that is of the essence of October. It is as fresh and clean as a rainy day after a spell of heat. It crackles pleasantly in the mouth. Moreover it is excellent, I am told, for the complexion. One is always hearing of things which are good for the complexion, but there is no doubt that celery stands high on the list. After the burns and freckles of summer one is in need of something. How good that celery should be there at one’s elbow".
posted by rollick (12 comments total)

It is a pretty bleak Autumn day in London today so thanks, that cheered me up.
posted by Major Tom at 4:36 AM on October 13, 2014

Thanks for the post.. I've been dreading winter, and this fall, as usual, my pup brings me a leaf with every trip outside to remind me of the season...

This essay was a pleasant way to warm my thoughts about this time of year.
posted by HuronBob at 5:09 AM on October 13, 2014 [1 favorite]

I had been thinking of the winter as a horrid wet, dreary time fit only for professional football. Now I can see other things—crisp and sparkling days, long pleasant evenings, cheery fires. Good work shall be done this winter. Life shall be lived well. The end of the summer is not the end of the world.

This was wonderful, I love the changing of the seasons.
posted by arcticseal at 6:11 AM on October 13, 2014

This is a lovely little hearthfire of an essay to heat my toes on a damp day. With an unmistakeably Pooh-ish appreciation for the little joys of eating - how on earth did he manage to stay so thin? Maybe celery really does have negative calories...

That was all right! it was the public cheese.
posted by forgetful snow at 6:47 AM on October 13, 2014 [2 favorites]

Celery Blue. Can we just not? I've had it up to here with Big Celery and its forced memes.
posted by rikschell at 7:10 AM on October 13, 2014 [2 favorites]

George Bernard Shaw (a vegetarian himself) once expressed horror at attending a vegetarian banquet by summoning the spectre of a thousand people, all crunching celery.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 7:28 AM on October 13, 2014 [1 favorite]

AA Milne's nonfiction voice is such an Owl.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:40 AM on October 13, 2014 [3 favorites]

Wol.

ftfy
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 7:58 AM on October 13, 2014 [6 favorites]

"I love fall."
posted by Fizz at 10:40 AM on October 13, 2014

That was delicious...
posted by jim in austin at 7:21 PM on October 13, 2014

Goddammit, I thought we were finally settling into fall here in DC but it's muggy and warm again - it's going to get up to 80 today, and last night I slept with the air conditioner on! I just want those cold, crisp celery days.
posted by lunasol at 4:55 AM on October 14, 2014

Upon reading the A A Milne piece, I grabbed celery and cheese from the fridge and a Crawford's cracker. Rollick should send an invoice to the World Celery Council. Thank you for the link. October and celery, I didn't know. Henceforward, when eating celery with friends, I will tell the A A Milne story.
posted by Schroder at 12:00 PM on October 14, 2014