Sensing the Season

It has felt like fall for a couple of weeks now. There were also a couple of crisp days before then but the consistency only just started to take hold. This may be my favorite time of year but the temperature is only half of the equation.

Today was the first day that I was really able to enjoy the season. Not because of the official announcement yesterday that the season had changed but because of the fact that today was the first time that it started to envelope all of my senses not just one. The sights, sounds, and smells are beginning to fill the air.

I enjoy the crunch under my feet of the freshly fallen leaves; the first line to fold in the seasonal change. While some may view the suicidal foliage in a way that foretells of the bitter cold just a few short months away I prefer to enjoy the moment that we are living in now. The year is too short to always be looking toward the darkness of winter; seasons are meant to be enjoyed.

Those same leaves give off the aroma unique to this time of year and one that is really hard to explain. Soon it will be joined by the comforting scents of the fall harvest and freshly carved pumpkins before the cold takes hold and mutes the olfactory experience. There is a lightness to the air that with a cool dry breeze the season wraps around you the smells of the season.

Looking up, just outside our apartment door, the edges of the leaves are beginning to burn with the autumn palate. Each leaf is unique in their chameleon change but all adding the overall collage of colors while retaining the memory of the summer arbor just beneath the branches. Soon the horizon will be filled with the fire of fall for all but a fleeting moment that will, undoubtedly, leave us wanting more.

This is a season of beauty and of change. While the departed summer is a time to relax for many this is the time of year that lets be slow down a bit from time to time just to enjoy the world around me. It is the time when we can’t help but be amazed by the world around us and we pursue new adventures and endeavors simply to partake in as much of the season as we can before the slumbering season takes hold of us and the calendar flips over to a new year.

This is the time of year to start something new and to emblazon our memories with new experiences like the flamboyant foliage around us etches their transition in our minds. This is the time that the slowly descending temperature brings us together and holds us to the warmth of family and friends. This is the season to share with the ones you love and to embody the passion that is portrayed in the trees around us. This is, by far, my favorite season.