A New Season

While the weather has been slowly cooler over the past several weeks, there is something about the official first day of fall that enhances the subtle breezes, sharpens the colors, and enhances the smells that come with the season. Many of the trees may still be green and the sky remains un-fowled but there are subtle hints of the changes that will soon be upon us including the scattered leaves rustling between the leaves of un-mowed grass. And, of course, there is the smell of the burning foliage that sporadically wafts across the highway while on my way home from work each night.

However, the season is a little different this year. While I enjoy the coolness of the evenings sometimes venturing out to breathe the crisp air, we also have to make sure our son is dressed appropriately for the changing weather. As if we didn’t have enough stuff before, now we carry extra layers wherever we go and make sure that the colds he inevitably cycles through aren’t exacerbated by the chill in the air. After all, I want our son to enjoy this time of year as much as I do and, so far, he seems to be doing just that.

From time to time, shortly after getting home from work, I will pick up our son and take him outside. The dusk is still bright on the horizon and the air retains a hint of warmth which allows us to enjoy the time together without worrying about the dropping temperature. I love watching his eyes move from tree to tree studying the colors, shapes, and size of them. He watches the cars speed by slowly coming back to focus on the horizon as the orange and red takes over the sky. And when something is particularly interesting he usually starts slapping my arm and turns his head to look at me seemingly asking “Daddy, do you see that?”

Fall was already my favorite time of year and moment like that are making the season even better. While he is still young and may not fully appreciate all the changes that are taking place, the sense of wonder that he has accentuates the feeling of autumn for me. I hope that is one thing that he never loses when he looks at the world around him. Sometimes I lose sight of it but it really is an amazing creation in which we live.

Thank You For The Accurate Forecast

Once again the Weather Channel was spot on predicting the precipitation for the day. What was originally going to be an inch or two is now approximately five inches sitting on top the cars in the parking lot. I think Carnac would have been more accurate. Adding to the fun is the fact that there is a nice thin coating of ice on everything including the unplowed pavement. Given that drivers lately have had a difficult time in clear road conditions, this should make for an interesting commute in the morning.

 

The afternoon was filled with the sounds of a winter preview as the flakes fell by the window and rode on the occasional breeze across the rows of cars and onto the train tracks running behind our building. Occasionally we would hear the crunch of the snow packing beneath someone’s feet as they walked to their car or the creek of solidifying snow under the tires of residents returning. But, for the most part, it was quiet. The kind of quiet that only snow can bring to the world.

With the snow falling steadily all day, my wife and I hunkered down and enjoyed a day to ourselves in the apartment. We took care of some cleaning (the dishes were more stubborn in their occupation of the kitchen than those people who decided to clog up the cities a few years ago) and finally settled down to watch a couple of movies we had been meaning to view for some time now. I guess the day wasn’t a complete loss but it would have been nice to get out and get a few other things done like getting a long overdue haircut. However, these kinds of days are good for us. Whether you like the snow or not, it forces you to slow down for a little bit and take a break from your usual daily or weekend routine.

I firmly believe that this is only the beginning of an impressive winter of heavy snow and frigid temperatures. The past couple of years have given us casual winters where there were only the occasional reminders of the season. In just a couple of weeks the winter will officially take hold of the calendar and the smell of snow will fill our nostrils for months rather than the infrequent wafts that have passed by our noses up to this point. But maybe that is the kind of year that we need… maybe we need a season when we take time to enjoy life by just slowing down every once in a while. I don’t know, maybe that is the plan G-d has for us. Either way, it is going to be a year of interesting morning commutes.

 

Embrace The Cold

First snow and a cup of coffee (2011).

While I did see some flurries earlier this month, tonight is the first night that it smells like snow. It’s not really a smell in the traditional sense, it is more like a lack of scent when the dry frigid air seems to flood your nostrils with the clean pure air of crystalized vapor. It is the kind of air that arrests your breath as soon as is passes across your lips.

It seems as if the spring, summer, and fall have all but disappeared into the past in a matter of moments rather than months leaving us with shock of a frozen world when we open our front door in the morning. The frost on the windows taunts us as if to say “I told you so, I told you I would be back.” The car seems hesitant to move as if woken up from a daily hibernation and unwilling to face the reality of daylight.

Midday offers some hope of relief as the sun warms our skin just enough to bring some comfort to our face just before the cool breeze rips across our cheeks. In what must be a slight of hand, the sky quickly turns dark long before the work day ends and the cold returns to dominate the world beyond the windows. By the end of the day it feels as though déjà vu has set in and our morning routine becomes our evening repetition.

But, for me, the sight of snow makes everything different. I don’t know why, but for some reason, the cold doesn’t seem as breathtaking and the wind doesn’t seem to bite as hard. Snow changes the world around us. Just like rain makes everything dreary, snow whitewashes the world as if to bring us a fresh start to the day, week, month, or year. Having the rough edges softened now and again calms the senses and eases the harshness that can sometimes be found in our surroundings.

I have lived in many different places and many different kinds of environments and I can say for certain that this happens everywhere not just in the Stars Hollow’s of the world. The scent of snow changes things and offers, for some of us, an eager anticipation while the sight of a winter blanket can make the ugliest view from the window something to look forward to and enjoyable to just watch. And, best of all, snow brings us together and allows us to huddle inside (or occasionally help one another outside) and enjoy the company of our loved ones.

It has the potential to make us slow down. Sometimes just for a few minutes and sometimes for days. But, most importantly, it changes our perspective and brings a different kind of appreciation to what we have, where we are, and the beauty that the weather can produce. It can be an amazing time of year if you let it so why not take the chance and embrace the cold.    

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.