Autumn can be wonderful : bright , crisp days with brilliant blue skies , leaves in colours that lift the spirit , hedges glistening with jewel-like hips and haws .
There was one boy on the street who sold candied haws on a stick , who would pipe out his wares in the manner of a consumptive choirboy , pleading with the faceless passers-by with both his faltering voice and his desperate eyes .