BY: K.P. SANDER
This is one of the hottest summers that I can remember. The barometer hasn’t even glanced toward anything less than 90 degrees in what seems like months. Being of British descent, it’s in my DNA to appreciate downright cold weather. It’s invigorating! As of late, however, I’m feeling a bit lazy. Normally one to enjoy dressing the part, I am reduced to t-shirts, shorts and a wet pony tail. The thought of getting out the blow dryer is, well, ewww.
The hissing of summer lawns is overshadowed by the whirl and whine of air conditions trying to keep one step ahead of the sweltering heat and humidity. Like me, you’ve probably had the electric company reduce your ability to run the A/C at peak times – and rightly so. At 106 degrees, a hot community could bring a grid to its knees.
So you try to enjoy the slightly cooler temperatures of the evenings by sitting outdoors, but then those little darlings of the West Nile [virus] start sipping on you like you’re a piña colada. Back indoors you go and make an attempt not to sweat and sleep at the same time.
But enough complaining, already. Let us turn our thoughts to all things autumn. Ah, sweaters, scarves, warm fires, hot chocolate, Pumpkin Spice Lattes, trips to local mountains, colors changing, the baking of pies and breads, apple cider, and jack-o-lanterns. It’s no longer hot, but most wonderfully cool. The word ‘Crisp’ comes to mind (although a friend who lived in Wisconsin once told me I didn’t know the meaning of the word).
Fall Festivals start cropping up and electric bills go down. Wardrobes change, dinner menus start to include casseroles and turning the oven on is no longer a crime. Lawns start perking up as they feel able to muster up a bit more green, and if you’ve planted a summer vegetable garden, you’re gathering the last of the harvest.
Soon, Halloween costumes will be selected and Thanksgiving plans will start to formulate. It seems the whole color palette around us changes to burgundies, golds, reds, greens, and plums. As leaves begin to drop and decorate the neighborhoods, the air feels fresher, and life just seems a bit cozier. People, in general, seem to generate a warmth, and appear a little friendlier.
As the poet, Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote, “…Pile high the logs till the flame be leaping; at bay the chill of the autumn keeping; while pilgrim-wise, we may go a-reaping – in the fairest meadow of memory!”
‘Tis autumn, at last!
