Eternal Seasons

Lovely picture from this blog because I fell asleep early and the sun went down before I could take my own.

The weather is generally a safe topic, but it needn't be as superficial as some people make it. I was out today in the brisk, sunny California autumn of 79 degree weather, walking past hanging pots still brimming with multi-colored flowers and candy-scented shops in one of the many shopping centers surrounding my home. I occurred to me I'm in what many people would consider paradise. I'm even in a particularly nice corner of paradise. Anything I could possibly need is within three miles of my house, most of it right across the street, and much of it has a nicely manicured Disneylandish quality to it. Actually, it's a lot cleaner than Disneyland and probably prettier with even more foliage. But if that all becomes too commercial, I can retreat to the nature reserve right behind my house.

Still, I confess I miss autumn. Proper autumn where the trees turn to flame and the air puts one in mind of apples and pumpkins. The smell of real autumn is already fading from my memory despite not even having been here a full year, and I'm not sure I could do it justice with what I do remember. Something about the leaves changing makes it smell sweet and spicy, a smell that perfectly fits the word russet.

I'll probably never miss barren trees or having all the moisture in my nose crystallize the moment I walk outside. But I do miss the feeling that time has truly passed. When I began to see Halloween decorations here, I was confused. It wasn't October, it couldn't be. It feels more like April. The trees here feel the same. A few are reluctantly changing perhaps one branch of leaves but the rest seem to think that green is the new orange. Regardless, I realized that, according to the calendar, I was wrong, and I would just have to get used to the sight of pumpkins and palm trees.