Falling

Around this time of year I get into my nesting phase. I buy new winter sheets with twirling Autumn leaf designs or intricate snow flake patterns and even though it's 87 degrees I sip pumpkin lattes and shop for fluttering scarves to twist around my neck, I love this season. In Fall colors burst forth more vibrantly than in spring where everything is just green, the last hooray before the earth slumbers is a passionate cry of goodbye, don't forget me, fire that will soon be quenched. The air is crisp, fallen leaves crunch, fires cackle, and at night the wind howls. I love to watch gusts force the leaves from trees, they scatter like birds disrupted by a chasing dog.
I gather gourds for the table, go apple picking, sip rum and cider, and guzzle dark German beers at various Oktober fests, this season is a flight from color, preparation for the starkness of winter. My final hooray to the dizzying pace of summer, soon I'll curl in my new sheets with the blankets pulled to my nose, reading, getting fatter, letting my hair grow, getting black girl pale, waiting for the scent of spring to revive me. I couldn't live anywhere else but here, God I love this season.
Picture was taken on 10/6/07 as I sailed the Hudson for a scenic Fall Cruise to Bear Mountain. Luscious day it turned out to be, but it started gray under heavy fog that delayed the ship. Despite the sun coming out, an eventual high of 87, and the mountains glowing like lava was spewing forth, this overcast picture of the beginning is my favorite.