Autumn

Not all people select a favorite season of the year,
though summer is the preference for most, or so that’s what I hear.
But autumn is my hands-down favorite season of all,
for there is such a romantic cozy feeling in the air in the fall.

In Southern California you must be a sleuth to see it or feel it,
for fall there is measured by the tiniest changes that can be perceived,
the gentle crisp coolness from a dip of a few degrees near the sea,
the angle and gold light of the sun as it forms shadows in the trees.

Napa in November might seem an unlikely fall place,
but not after you’ve seen the grapevines change their colors in waves.
The hills of Calistoga are a perfect patchwork of calico trees,
and you can swing around the bend to Sonoma to see more, if you please.

Anchorage in Alaska whips through the autumn season, lightning fast, if you ask me,
with a panorama of fall color dotted with dark spruce right down to the edge of the sea.
You could easily overdose on the miles of autumn colors on the drive out to Wasilla,
before strong winds blast the leaves faraway, and winter surrounds you in less than a day!

I have even seen autumn from the vantage point of the sky
above Colorado and Utah from 30,000 feet high.
Viewing fall from that perspective is a study in the elegance of design,
the blended richness of color and the intermingling of curves and of lines.

Viewing the changes of the leaves is the best pastime in autumn for me,
but carving faces into pumpkins is another fun-filled activity,
or handing out candy in the dark to tiny ghosts on Halloween,
and don’t forget the Thanksgiving feasts that leave not one of us lean.

So if you are one who perceives fall as simply the end of your summer,
or just that time when you help your children plan out another school year,
why not lighten up your regular routine with more time to play and tree gaze,
and autumn might surpass your favorite season, especially on such enchanting fall days.