This Time of Year...
(I tried a new font and the normal size makes it this small....but I think I like this one.)God, I love autumn SO much...
I have off today and so far it’s been a great morning. After lounging in bed for an hour, watching a few episodes from the first season of “Friends” on DVD and listening to Einstein purr beside me (he’s not always a snuggly cat so I have to take my moments when I get them), I got up, checked email and be-bopped around the house a little: restarting the dryer from last night to de-wrinkle my laundry, checking on iTunes downloads (Alabama’s Essential Hits, Meatloaf, Frankie Valli, Sting), opening the blinds, stuff like that. By that time Einstein was sitting at the back door yowling – he loves to go out but it must be supervised and even that is a challenge sometimes.
So, I changed into some comfy flannel pants and a Penn State sweatshirt, made some tea, grabbed a Pop-Tart and my laptop and now I’m out back, enjoying this wonderfully cool morning….as Einstein explores the wonders that make up the back yard. Little did I know the fascination that lies beneath the drain spout.
Last week I was out here grilling a burger and fries and ate at the patio table. The sun was going down, the deer were in the yard feeding, the little man was actually within sight and all was right with the world. Since my laptop was close by, I had to email a friend at that moment to tell her that it felt and smelled like a Friday night high school football game. And I LOVED football games in high school…they are some of my fondest memories. We've decided to find a game at a local high school during one of the remaining Friday nights in October.
This is that time of year when boots come out of the boxes on the top shelf of the closet, leather jackets are moved closer to the middle of the rack and the windows are cracked at night to let a cold breeze in while you snuggle deep beneath a down comforter. You no longer have to light a candle to make the house smell like cinnamon or pumpkin and an entire afternoon can vanish like a blink as you sit and watch leaves fall with varying degrees of abandonment.
This is my favorite time of year to visit college campuses and just wile away a day under a tree with a book; or slowly walk the leaf covered paths that wind around until I’m lost and need to ask some kind student to direct me back to the parking lot near Barrett, Stonely or Perry Hall….all those buildings have those cool, pedigree laden names.
I can’t wait to see what Trick or Treat is like in this neighborhood, given it’s my first Halloween here and it seems to be a safe place for kids to partake of that age old tradition. I love the thought of the little 4 and 5 year olds trudging around in their too big costume that their older siblings wore not too many years ago. Dragging their bags on the ground until they reach that precarious stage of almost busting open…how heartbreaking was it the first time you realized that candy was leaking all over the street from your plastic pumpkin face bag? You only have to learn that lesson once.
I want to spend an afternoon in the city, visiting book stores, sitting in the park watching the kids play a pick-up game of basketball, basking in the sunlight as I enjoy a late lunch with a friend at an outdoor cafe. Then we end the day, briskly walking back to the car in the fading light, coats pulled tight around us as we brush up against one another in the cold wind that tunnels between the buildings, our bodies not quite accustomed to the change in the weather yet.
There’s a song by “Better Than Ezra”, from their “Deluxe” album. It’s called “This Time of Year”. The first time I heard it must have been 15 years ago and, in an instant, it became one of my favorite songs...it completely surrounds the way I feel at the start of every autumn season. It’s been far too long since I’ve heard it and I will, no doubt, go from writing this to my CD collection and let it repeat over and over until I don’t realize it’s even playing anymore.
Just like a Friday afternoon
Yeah, you can go there if you want
Though it fades too soon
So go on, let it be.
If there's a feeling coming over me,
Seems like it's always understood this time of year.
Well, I know there's a reason to change.
Well, I know there's a time for us.
You think about the good times
And you live with all the bad.
You can feel it in the air,
Feeling right this time of year.
Well, there's a football in the air,
Across a leaf blown field.
Yeah, and there's your first car on the road,
And the girl you'd steal.
So go on with yourself
If there's a feeling that there's something else.
Seems like it's always understood
This time of year.
posted by Cherry Indigo (Cindy) @ 9/30/2005 09:30:00 AM
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