“But then fall comes, kicking summer out on its treacherous ass as it always does one day sometime after the midpoint of September, it stays awhile like an old friend that you have missed. It settles in the way an old friend will settle into your favorite chair and take out his pipe and light it and then fill the afternoon with stories of places he has been and things he has done since last he saw you.” -Stephen King “Salem’s Lot”
A different season, a time of change, an end to summer. Fall for so many seems to invoke so many emotions, most not good. Now by saying I love it, I am sure I sound like na na na boo boo. Which really I am. I kid, please don’t stop reading.
But the truth is, I do love it.
Change of seasons always seems so exciting to me. A chance for new beginnings, new adventure. New clothes (you had to know I was gonna invoke fashion somewhere in here) scrumptious food. Pumpkin Spice Lattes (yes, Starbucks should pay me or at least give me a free drink) the crispness of the air, just to mention a few things. But fall has to be one of my favorite.
Maybe it was growing up in the White Mountains, where the leafs would turn vibrant shades of orange, red, yellows, and everything in between. The leafs didn’t just turn brown and die, they changed, they became vibrant. It was like fall was their debutante and they were going to let the world know it. They were going to go out with a bang.
Being outdoors, hiking, in the woods filled with rainbow colored leafs enjoying the fairs, in the evening, and of course Oktoberfest (Disclaimer, I am not a beer drinker, but come on, even if you don’t drink, Oktoberfest is fun!) tailgating at football, and even enjoying what I think is a sport only New Englanders created, Mud Football.
Yup. You read that right, it is actually pretty fun, how can you resist watching grown men play football and pretty much grapple in knee deep mud? And all the festivities that go along with it, a North Conway staple! Or one of those things you have to see to believe and love. Guess I do have some New England tendencies after all.
Fall also sets the stage for things to come. For me, it isn’t about dreariness and dying. Bitterness and cold. Getting back to the every day grind. Which let’s face it when you are older is really year round, but some how the summer makes it all better with it’s enticing sun and, stealing away for a few hours at the beach.
I have a lot of reasons to hate fall, but as much sadness as I feel especially in September and beginning of October, I can’t. Which is why I am so sad I can’t get home this year. Because the beauty of it trumps all sadness. The leafs give a peace, that everything is going to be alright. the comfort rustle of the leafs is soothing.
As disappointed as I am about not being able to go home, I also get a chance to appreciate and really experience the city this fall. And I am finding I love it. The breeze that blows, the crispness of my runs. Even just walking around the city feels fresh and new. Like I have moved here for the first time. It is a peace before the craziness. The chance to enjoy without rain or mud like in the spring, or the chilling biting cold during the winter, or the hot, humid, stifling heat during the summer. It is new beginnings. A chance for excitement, rejuvenation. And I am finding I love it. And even though, I might miss the “country things” I am still finding ways to soak them up, with going apple picking, and going to a haunted house (yes New York has one, and yes it is flipping scary. And no you should not bring kids, but yes you SHOULD drink, or take a xanax or something beforehand.)
Fall isn’t and shouldn’t be all gloom and doom, because it has so much to teach us. It is the beauty before the slumber. The fact that like in life, many of our last hours, can be our most happy. Fall isn’t the end, it is the beginning of something bigger and greater. It is a reminder to step outside enjoy the crispness* in the air, enjoy life, before it is gone.
Fall is like wine, you have to savor it, because when you blink you will miss it in the rush of things.
Besides it really is the only season where you can watch, football, baseball and hockey, and have a heart attack, stroke, and break multiple televisions at once. Not that I am bitter or anything about my the Giants being 0.3, but then that is what hockey is for!
*Disclaimer: I am just going to make Crispness my word of the month. Not that I have a word of the month, but it seems fitting, since I used it a thousand times. Okay I only used it three times, but it seemed like a lot.
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