It's Fall, already?
I don't care what your calendars say, and when "Fall begins" - it started today. Apparently I wasn't the only one to feel it either, I messages a friend and he could feel it all the way out in LA.
See, here in the 805 (specifically Santa Paula and Ventura is where I'm talking about) - we have a 4 Season Year despite having an ideal Mediterranean climate. (The sound of a single engine plane flying right now just confirmed to me today is now the Fall Season.)
Definition:
Mediterranean climate
A climate of hot, dry summers and warm, wet winters. This climate is not only characteristic of Mediterranean lands, but is also found in California, central Chile and the extreme south of Africa.
In summer, the climate is dominated by subtropical anticyclones, and trade winds prevail. Daily weather is greatly influenced by sea breezes and land breezes. In winter, mid-latitude depressions bring rain. Local winds, such as the Mistral of southern France and the Santa Ana of California are of great significance.
A Mediterranean climate is a climate that resembles the climate of the lands bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Outside the Mediterranean, this climate covers relatively small areas of the Earth, and generally occurs on the western coasts of continental landmasses, roughly between latitudes 30° to 45° north and south of the equator.
With such a climate you gotta kinda ask, "How can you have a 4 Season Year?" (Being, a distinct difference in one season to the next)....Having lived here for 28 years of my life I can 'asplain, there are a few tell tale sings that the season is changing...
Visually: My towns main residential street is lined in trees on both sides. The trees leaves do the changing to reds, yellows, fall off to the floor and become great kicking leaves.
Sound: When Fall rolls around sound becomes "hollow." As in, during the day time things sound more echo'ed. You can hear for miles, if that makes any sense. You can hear cars cutting air as they drive down the street, you can hear wind thats far overhead, not wind closer to the ground (aka the air that you could feel). The single engine planes overhead? You can hear them cutting the air - almost as if their propellers are chopping it up, and the sound doesn't come straight down immediately, you hear the sound overhead and spreading East and West (the way my valley runs) and your listening to the echo of the planes sounds - not the plane itself. I don't know about anywhere else but also when the wind begins to kick up it makes a howling effect...
The Feel: The air becomes dry but it's not "Vegas Dry." How do I describe this?...Air, Air Feel, Wind - all of it - dry but not horribly dry to the point you're n ose is bleeding. You can feel your ahnds more dry, and the air is easier to breathe cause it's dry - BUT, for those with sinues issues - be prepared to have them drain like a mo fo. (Which mine are, I have a hanky with me as I write this. *blows*)
Days like today - cold cold water is your best friend. And though it's warm, there's just enough chill from the ocean that you can sleep/nap if you wanna. Which I think I might.
Today is the first day in a long time I feel an odd "peacefulness" in my heart. No one did anything, nothing changed - it's just a weird feeling I have. I've only washed my face once since I woke up at 11AM. Washed my hands 2 times since I woke up. Though, I admit, when I'm done with this I'm going to go wash them again....Still, I don't feel as "dirty" today. I'm at peace. I'm calm.
I wanna say it's because I'm too overly content with the weather feel and season change. I'm impressed by it's effect on me. Fall has always been my favorite season. Well, I guess since my lover isn't here I need to find something to give my emotions to besides the depressing ennui of day to day life boredom. Just odd, overwhelming sense of love, maybe it was my conversation with Cody before I went to bed. It was more pleasnt than it has been lately. Guess he finally caught up with his sleep. His lacking sleep makes him grumpy. Then also the fact that he now only drinks ONE day a week, so I'm sure he's dealing with the withdrawls thing when he doesn't drink. Poor guy. Oh well, I'm not the one who told him to quit, he did that on his own
Fall ushers in. Time for things to change. Harvest time. End times. Everything bad always seem to end in Fall. I wonder what change.....
On the funny side: my mom just came in from having her face waxed or something - the conversatin went like this:
Mom- GINA! You know the lady I gave the puppy to? She wants tp give it back
Me: Ok
Mom: Will you help me baby the puppy?
Me: What?? No.
Mom: Help me take care of it and spoil it!
Me: No
Mom: What? Why not?
Me: I have my own kitty to worry about, what makes you think I wanna help you spoil a puppy when I can be spoiling Jens?
About that time Kitty woke up, I picked Jens up and he meowed. "Don't worry Jens, you can totally beat him up if he comes here.Oh yes, yes you can, Jens. You can beat him up...."