Tis the Season of Brown

I doubt January is anyone's favourite month. In climates such as the UK, especially in the South where I live it's the season of dirty brown everywhere. There are no leaves on the trees, the grass is in retreat. Mud is everywhere as the rain is fairly constant but not heavy enough to be cleansing; it's just enough to dissolve the soil and spread it around. The mornings as I walk into work are dark and overcast, it then remains dark and overcast during the day and is then properly nighttime dark when I leave the studio to go home.

There are compensations of course. I like getting home, out of the cold, and making myself a cup of tea or hot chocolate to warm myself. I like the layers of jumpers and coats that make everyone into spherical woollen balls. I love the feeling of being toasty and warm inside your coat when your ears and nose are telling you that its freezing outside. And it certainly makes you appreciate home that little bit more when it really does feel like a shelter from the elements. The sensation of being wrapped up warm in your bed when you can hear the rain hammering against the window and the sound of the wind in the chimney breast is wonderful.

But mostly it's all dismal and brown out there and here it seldom snows or gets frosty and beautiful. The sun is pretty much absent from the sky and we treasure its few fleeting appearances through our office windows. Anytime we're outside be it at the beginning or end of the day it's twilight at best. Still the calming and relaxing effects of the Christmas holidays have yet to wear off and though I know I'm in for three or four months of hell to finish HPatOotP at work I'm still quite cheery. It's also quite a pleasant thought that as we finish work on the film we can emerge from our toils blinking into the light, like Moley in "The Wind in the Willows", and perhaps we'll have a few days holiday to enjoy the springtime. For the foreseeable future though, it will be work and darkness and mud.