It's Fall.
For me, anyway. I started sensing the bend in the sunlight a few weeks ago. And what feels to me like the last, desperate blast of heat from summer, bringing out the big guns in a final attempt to assert itself. I know what you're thinking, those of you who have known New England autumns, what most think of as "real" fall. Actual seasons. The thing is, we have seasons in SoCal. But they are much more subtle. Which makes that turn from summer even more precious, to me, who lives happiest and best between September and December. I suppose if I ever live in, say, Boston, the overtness of trees in full flame and preponderance of crisp, cool days would make my head (and heart) explode. It might be almost too much.
You know SAD? People with SAD need summery sun--or at least sunlamps--to alleviate the depression that sets in when winter gets too long and dark. I think I have my own version. I look forward to fall all year. To shorter days, cooler weather, blue, breezy skies. To the un-greening of leaves, seeing pumpkins, needing a sweater. To the deep nostalgia that washes over me as back-to-school approaches. I admit it, I'm one of those annoying people who actually looked forward to the new school year as a kid. I was ready to see my friends/classmates again, to wear spanking new clothes, and to be an ant again after three months as a grasshopper. Autumn has always brought a feeling of possibility into my soul. I always get excited when fall comes, I always remember years past and vibrate a little with the sense that something new is just around the corner.
My New Year begins the day after Labor Day. Y'all can have January 1st and May Day. Early September is my time for "spring cleaning" of the mind, for revitalizing, re-energizing, resolving to do better, for dusting out my spiritual cobwebs.
Happy Fall.
7 comments:
I like autumn too -- though school starting, that I definitely have mixed feelings about.
Btw, I got email from cafepress with a link to librarian designs. Some of them are actually pretty funny and I thought you might enjoy them:
http://www.cafepress.com/buy/librarian?CMP=EMC_20060905wire
Eh, I'm sure it feels like fall to someone. Not me. When it's over 100 after 6pm, I'm standing unconvinced.
I'm glad you like fall, sweetie. I, on the other hand, always dreaded the approach of fall and my re-enslavement by school. Now that I'm an adult and have no summer vacations anyway, fall's lost much of its sting, but catching onto SoCal's subtleties of weather eludes me still.
Yes, I know. That's why I said it's subtle!! Those of you who grew up in climes where the seasons were lavish in their distinctness, you'll probably never catch on. But we get our fall, even if the color is relegated to the occasional liquid amber, and the breezy clear skies are due in part to Santa Anas...
I can feel fall in the air out here. In my case, the cooler temperatures spur my nesting mode in preparation for my version of winter hibernation.
Of course, unlike the bear, I revel in being awake and playing in the snow when it arrives. Bring on winter! My favorite season of all. :)
I think, had I been lucky enough to grow up with regular snowy winters instead of the occasional visit to "The Snow" (and my uncle)up at Lake Tahoe, I'd probably like winter a lot, too.
I always liked the return to school as well. After hanging out with the neighborhood boys all summer, it was nice to get back to my school friends—not sure why they were so crisply delineated.
I always felt so dashing that first day in my "coolest" new outfit, which I was seldom cool enough to pull off. Still, hope sprung eternal in a schoolgirl's heart.
Nice post, Grrrly.
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