Autumn Leaves

One of the great pleasures of autumn in a temperate climate is the turning of the leaves. While I am not going to experience the true warmth of an Indian Summer this trip, I did get my one blissful dose of nature's color yesterday. Early frosts, high winds and rain can severely foreshorten the fall color experience, this year falls somewhere in the middle of the color enjoyment experience.

I was out running errands yesterday, when I ducked down a side street and there were five or six blocks of brilliant yellow maple trees. Interspersed every block or so was a burst of red or a still fading green tree. The browns of late fall have yet to appear, so we have peak colors or at least what will have to stand as peak for this autumn in lower Michigan.

I particularly have noticed quite a few trees that seem to blush with a reddish-pink as opposed to the usual dark red maples of most fall palettes. Some combination of summer heat and fall rain has produced more of these light red patterns than in my memory of past autumns. It was cloudy yesterday but a weak sun broke through while I was on that side street, so I got the full experience of the color and light. There is a feeling of bliss that hits the spectrally attuned at these times. A light and satisfying experience that all is right with the world. It mimics that first blush of warmth that comes with a new lover. Before the heartless shrew defiles your heart and leaves you alone and barren as the trees shall be in just a few weeks.

I know, I know but sometimes these things have to be said. Besides she still owes me money and she took my parrot. Meanwhile back to our autumnal musings...

Today, the wind and rain have come and the lawns are littered with thousands of yellow leaves. Time to put up wood for the winter, get those last few storm windows snugly in place and in my case, consider heading south.

---

photo credits: the interwebs

Whether Fall Weather

No time for a summer friend

No time for the love you send

Seasons change and so do I

You need not wonder why

. . . Guess Who

Seasons change at different times for all of us. Geography makes

a difference, other times it's our own internal clock. Here in north

central California where I have been hanging out we have been

hitting 90 degrees nearly every day and even though it cools off

into the 40s at night, it still has not felt like fall, no matter what

the calendar or equinox says. Today as promised we just reached

80 and tomorrow the prediction is for a high of barely 60.

Overnight Tuesday could even bring the first frost. The slightly

higher elevations on Mt. Shasta will definitely be freezing as

soon as tonight.

Fall has locally arrived. I checked the national weather for my

northern route across the U.S. and found this headline: "Fall

Blows In Nationwide." It appears to be getting very close to

my time to wander on. Distant roads are calling me.

Interesting today has also been windy. I didn't have to close the

house up against the heat, so the wind snapping through the high

pines has been a foregrounded presence all day. It's just warm

enough today to put some electricity in the air. A good day for

domestic disputes and the ruby throated avians have been

chasing each other away from the feeder most of the afternoon.

I was having some problems with my writing, so a took a walk

and got in touch with the changing atmosphere. Its unsettled, a

bit hyper and twitchy jumpy. So when I got back I shifted to

working on several of the meth scenes in the Check Raising the

Devil screenplay. Gotta go with what the elementals give you.

Amy will probably have to round off some of the barbs in what

I create today, but she has lots of experience leveling out my

writing. You should have read the sex scenes from the book

before she got to them!

An edgy, high-strung, restless day calls for a long, slow, mellow

evening, I have the perfect plan. Therewill be a hot tub, perhaps

a cocktail and even some natural enhancements.

A solitary salute to autumn.