Last Tuesday I finally got to do a humongous load of laundry, the exact dimensions of which I would be embarrassed to admit; but sorting through it made me think on New York's fall again.
When I was a kid, I hated the fall. After all, September First was The Dreaded Day. The day before one absolutely could not watch a movie after "Vremia", schlep with one's parent (usually Mother) to the flower market to buy an extremely overpriced and strange looking bouquet of flowers, make sure an ugly uniform and equally ugly knapsack (stuffed with office supplies American students should see just to appreciate their lives a bit more) were ready for the battle, and go to sleep extra early. And on The Day itself you had to perform the forgotten for a three-month period exercise of dragging yourself out of bed early, donning that ugly (never mind uncomfortable) uniform, picking up the ugly knapsack, dragging yourself to school, meanwhile mentally preparing yourself for nine months of almost uninterrupted torture of socialist-kommie brainwashing, occasionally interspersed with math and sciences. Oh, joy! On the side note, I actually enjoyed learning for learning's sake, even though I hated school. Ironically, it was American college that killed my appreciation of organized education, burned me out, and, for a while, crushed my fighting spirit (but that is a separate story). Suffice it to say, fall was not my favorite time of the year while I was growing up.
New York changed that; I love fall! The first indication for me (independent of calendars) is the secession of the dependency on air conditioning. They are live savers; but it is such a joy to sleep without them! First there is no A/C; then you can sleep with the open window; then you have to wake up in the middle of the night to get a blanket because you realized that you are freezing; then you have to actually start sleeping with your windows closed. All these do not necessarily come in order; moreover, they come and go as they please, return and disappear, then reappear at their own accord. The weather fluctuations, always crazy in New York, are especially erratic in the fall, and you never, ever know what to wear (that, by the way, why I was thinking of the fall while doing laundry: too many different things for the period allotted). Still, I love the fall.
My favorite, of course, are the changing colors of the leaves, especially the maple trees. It is such a pleasure just to walk around, observe the trees, and sink your feet into the ever increasing amounts of the leaves on the ground. Oh, what wonderful joy!
Autumn also brings to me the philosophical introspections (not that I am free of them at any other time of the year). This is the time when most things either die or hide for the winter; but for us, it is the beginning of the New Year: renewed hope and refreshed souls. Of course, Rosh Hashana if the anniversary of the creation of the human being, and originally, till the Generation of the Flood, the seasons did not change, and it rained only once in 4o years. Still, The Creator knows the future; so, what is the message and where is the connection?
On the lighter note, here is to the few days of wonderful weather, gorgeous leaves in different colors, and the fleeting (and the more enjoyable for it) beauty of the New York fall.
3 comments:
yay! it has since snowed...And they are promising 50s in a few days ( I presume the real winter starts on Dec 21?)
When I lived in the South, autumn was the season I missed the most. The trees, the piles of leaves, the crisp air. There's nothing like it...
As for first day of school ruining things for you, most years the first day of school coincided with my birthday (Go Virgo!). A real travesty, no?
Me, I've always loved fall, and never let school interfere with my education.
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