Autumn, Nature's Cult Hero

The autumnal equinox came and went mainly without notice. Then again, is it the 22nd or 23rd? I can hardly tell. The hot weather down here past summer didn't help me either. I mean everybody knows when the first day of summer or spring is. Then there are those who are into winter and of course winter can be the most welcomed or most feared. Spring means falling in love and planting (and sometimes both at the same time! Summer means fun and cookouts and women wearing next to nothing and their boyfriends giving you the stink eye. Winter, of course, means snow and Christmas and New Years and snow and Valentines day and snow and groundhog day and snow and for the people in Buffalo,NY; MORE SNOW! Yeah, you can say that summertime is an exciting and sexy season where as winter brings a family orientated fun time with spring serving as a buffer with it's own share of surprises.

THEN YOU HAVE THE FALL. A lowly season by some-- as you might guess. People are starting to cover up. The weather gets colder and so does some peoples' attitudes. I mean, let's face it, it's the beginning of the fiscal year for some companies. New programs start in the field of academics and applied education. College midterms, people beginning to start to prepare for tax season: Hell, in Canada, it's ALREADY tax season! Work begins to suck and all that "summer fun" turns into another memory. So for most people we are in a dark period between the last cookout and when open our X-Mas gifts or get into that heart-shaped bathtub with the scalding hot water and ubiquitous white bubbles with that special ski-bunny on Valentine's Day- YAWN!!. People can call Autumn a season of "blah"- for me, it's a season of OPPORTUNITY!

If anyone can guess, I love to write. This is the most perfect time to write, at least for me, anyway. I begin to wear a light jacket once the temperature drops below 65, I always have. My jacket is like a suit of armor and the season is like a kingdom for me to protect. My car is like a noble steer as I plow it through the fallen leaves. You can say that the leaves are like rose petals thrown at the feet of the returning knight. Then the sweet smell of crushed maple and oak leaves fill the air as the scenery is blotched with a series of browns, oranges, yellows, and some off-greens. After I take it all in, I wash it all down with a nice hot cup of a Chai latte.

Then things start to race through my mind, fun things. Like the times I hung out with friends just for the sake of hanging out. Or driving in my car though an isolated forest just to see the foliage and listening to jazz fusion on the radio (because Dave Brubeck is perfect for watching the leaves fall). Walking in the park is literally like a "walk in the park". There's something about the Fall that just screams out my name. Maybe it's the call of my Irish/Celtic ancestors on Halloween or the saints just giving me a shout out on November 1st. Maybe I'll be in love by then, or maybe someone loves me, or maybe I just love myself! Now before you think I'm selfish or I'm a pervert; I think that Fall is the celebration of the self. You can look at this as philosophical, or self analyzing psychobabble, but I truly think there is a portal to one's own thoughts and it only exists in the Fall. Look at the artists and writers that come out of hiding and do their best work. Look at a Van Gogh or a Monet painting, most of their paintings use Autumnal colors. Maybe, I'm the only one that sees this. Then again, why is Autumn one of George Winston's best albums? Then again, childhood memories come out, like when I dressed up and bobbed for apples on those Halloween days. I also remember in 1976 when I was in fourth grade and on the day before Thanksgiving break, I wrote "TOMORROW IS THANKSGIVING" out of the dirt and dust that sat on peoples' parked cars as I waited for the school bus. I think the streets of Brentwood and Central Islip, NY was shuddering at the nine-year old Thanksgiving loving grafitti artist that day!

My advice to my Fall-fearing friends is to at least take in a day to see what the Fall has to offer. Maybe you'll meet a new friend or maybe you'll fall in love. Or even maybe you can realize that person that you see in the mirror everyday is pretty cool after all!