autumn leaves
The weather turned on Friday here, and it's now pretty much Fall. I got out my thick black cardigan, and it came in handy when I ventured out to the Market with C. yesterday. It’s been in the 50s and 60s, and today it’s drizzly. Scholarly weather. I’m re-reading the Gorgias. There’s a big pot of market marinara on the stove, which I’ll let simmer away all day and then bag and freeze for future reference. That was probably the last good haul of romas. There are gourds and squash and pumpkins already in the market, and the apples started coming in two weeks ago. Next week I’ll buy potatoes and leeks and whomp up the first pot of soup. There’s the barest ghost of color in the trees. The idea of color.
Fall is my favorite season. Always has been. But I was startled by the sudden change in the air this time, and by the V of geese that, without fail, begin to cross the skies on every first week of school. Labor Day really is the last weekend of summer here, whereas the season goes on until late September or early October in Arkansas. Fall this year means it’s time to buckle down. Get serious. Get busy. Got books to read and papers to write and exams to face up to.
This time of year is ridden with memories for me, more so than the other seasons. The deep things, the things that resound, happen in the fall. The best holidays. The golden, slanting light. I went to my first funeral the fall I started fourth grade. School, which turned out to be my whole life, started then. I first fell in love the fall I was 15. I get sentimental this time of year, and listen to Nat King Cole as I brew my tea in the morning, wearing my long fluffy robe instead of the yellow cotton one that was still right just last week.
Comments
Krista,
Beautiful post. Realized you must live somewhere farther north and looked at your bio--ah, Minnesota. I remember my last trip there--snow in October. Here in North Carolina we haven't quite gotten out the pumpkins and squashes yet.
I'm writing because I recently came across in a search an old proposed project of yours--blogs as sites of healing--and wonder if anything ever came of that. It's a topic that particularly interests me. I've been interested in writing and healing for a long time, and only recently--very recently--after starting my own blog last month have I begun to think about blogs and writing and healing and how all this might interact.
Posted by: Diane Morrow | September 12, 2006 3:30 PM
It's turned cooler here. Gray and drizzly the last couple of days. I like it. The heat can be oppressive here.
Posted by: George | September 12, 2006 8:13 PM
Diane — sadly, nothing has come of that project. I changed institutions after the data collection, and my current department doesn’t really support this sort of work. I still like the study, though, and hope I’ll pick it up again down the line.
George — I never really miss the Southern heat, I’ll tell ya that. But I do enjoy feeling baked clean when I go home in the summer.
Posted by: Krista | September 13, 2006 7:05 AM
Krista---thanks for responding--hope you will be able to pick up the study again sometime---I think it could have a lot of potential---
best-----
Posted by: Diane | September 13, 2006 10:37 AM