Autumn
Today is the first morning that it's been really appreciably cooler - 51 degrees and sunny, but with that Fall slant to sunlight. I am a Summer Forever girl, but there is something
about the quality of sunlight in Fall that is...ineffably beautiful and bittersweet.
Some folks didn't realize that it's actually chilly; they're the ones out with their dogs, shivering in their shorts and sleeveless tops, all goosebumped up. Others know it, but aren't ready to embrace their inner Autumn and break out the warmer clothes in the warmer colors - they've just thrown on a gray hoodie, or navy sweatpants and look put-out and disgruntled.
The squirrels have noticed the change and are busy this morning, bustling across streets and power lines to create caches for the hungrier Winter. They were hardly around in the Summer, not to notice, but now they don't have time to hide and sleep.
Leaves are starting to fall. Not in the real REALLY Fall way where they blow everywhere or lay in sodden piles along the side of the road, but in the growing-more-serious way. Up until yesterday they were picturesquely dropping and spiraling down from trees that had begun to change. They were the ones you wanted to yell at, "Oh NO! Not Yet!" But today they have begun to fall with a bit more purpose. Maybe they hit the ground a little harder.
Not all the trees have changed their colors - it's making the ones that have much more dramatic. It seems a bit early to me this year, but I find as I age that everything seems to occur a lot sooner than it used to, and to have a little less duration.
Still, it's a good season. Children on the streets and farmers in their fields moving with purpose - like the squirrels, a little hustle in their steps. Unlike Summer and Winter, Fall (and Spring too) are seasons about beginnings and endings both, transitional times. We cover the pool, we order the firewood. We collect the harvest and work on storing it. I'd be lying if I didn't say it makes me a little melancholy and a little unsettled. In 6 or 8 weeks I'll get a strong urge to travel. Maybe it's a throwback feeling of our early ancestors - get out while the gettin's good! Or maybe seasons of transitions are just like that - maybe they make us sense it's time to transition to something else.
about the quality of sunlight in Fall that is...ineffably beautiful and bittersweet.
Some folks didn't realize that it's actually chilly; they're the ones out with their dogs, shivering in their shorts and sleeveless tops, all goosebumped up. Others know it, but aren't ready to embrace their inner Autumn and break out the warmer clothes in the warmer colors - they've just thrown on a gray hoodie, or navy sweatpants and look put-out and disgruntled.
The squirrels have noticed the change and are busy this morning, bustling across streets and power lines to create caches for the hungrier Winter. They were hardly around in the Summer, not to notice, but now they don't have time to hide and sleep.
Leaves are starting to fall. Not in the real REALLY Fall way where they blow everywhere or lay in sodden piles along the side of the road, but in the growing-more-serious way. Up until yesterday they were picturesquely dropping and spiraling down from trees that had begun to change. They were the ones you wanted to yell at, "Oh NO! Not Yet!" But today they have begun to fall with a bit more purpose. Maybe they hit the ground a little harder.
Not all the trees have changed their colors - it's making the ones that have much more dramatic. It seems a bit early to me this year, but I find as I age that everything seems to occur a lot sooner than it used to, and to have a little less duration.
Still, it's a good season. Children on the streets and farmers in their fields moving with purpose - like the squirrels, a little hustle in their steps. Unlike Summer and Winter, Fall (and Spring too) are seasons about beginnings and endings both, transitional times. We cover the pool, we order the firewood. We collect the harvest and work on storing it. I'd be lying if I didn't say it makes me a little melancholy and a little unsettled. In 6 or 8 weeks I'll get a strong urge to travel. Maybe it's a throwback feeling of our early ancestors - get out while the gettin's good! Or maybe seasons of transitions are just like that - maybe they make us sense it's time to transition to something else.