The end of summer
Posted on | August 28, 2005 |
Riding back on our bikes from the beach as the sun was slowly falling towards the mountains, I noticed maple leaves turning red. Autumn always brings introversion. A time to take stock of the way the garden has turned out after the growing season; the way my feet look, with a flip-flop tan line and a callous from my bike shoes; the way my soul feels after months of expansion.
I’m a bit reluctant this year to give up the goodness of summer, though I love fall more than any other season: for its gathering, its harvest, the leaves like fire spreading up the hills. But fall, with its sheer flaming beauty is like a lover that you know you can’t keep, and before you’ve really learned its secrets, it’s already gone. Piles of graying leaves and twiggy silhouettes in its wake; and with it, an inner shedding. An hesitation. Moments of silence. Loneliness creeps back up to the surface of things, waiting for snow fall.
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6 Responses to “The end of summer”
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August 28th, 2005 @ 11:07 pm
I’m actually looking very forward to fall. In the south, summers with a baby are torture- It’s too hot for her to go outside and do anything. So fall will give me a chance to reintroduce her to nature.
However, that said, cold weather with a baby is a totally different ballgame. It becomes “Sick Season”. I’ve loved spending months without a cold, without an ear infection, without a sore throat. I’m not looking forward to breaking out the antibacterial gel and covering her in it every time we leave a public place.
August 28th, 2005 @ 11:45 pm
This just makes me jealous of you! I live in TEXAS where we don’t have seasons like this! We have scorchingly humid summers, followed by warm autumns, followed by fall-like winters with about 1 week of really cold weather, and then Spring is just like summer but with rain. UGH!
August 29th, 2005 @ 1:10 am
What a nice post. I find myself also feeling very reflective on the cusp of a season. Thanks for sharing a thoughtful meditation.
August 29th, 2005 @ 6:03 am
fall in Paris is awful. it’s raining all the time making the dog poop flabby and extremely dangerous as they spread with water. so, I envy you. not to mention that this post is really beautiful.
August 29th, 2005 @ 12:27 pm
Autumn is my favorite season, and reading your beautiful post reminded me of something I had written in my journal last Fall. The air had just turned crisp and I was walking back from class…I’ll have to dig it up and re-read it. I felt the first few snaps of the weather changing over the last few days and I am so excited about it. Too bad I don’t still live in my Charlottesville apartment (it had a fabulous fireplace). By the way, I left a response to your earlier comment on my site…and by response, I mean, novel.
Oh, and I was looking at flights to visit my friend in CA and decided to type in your New England town…lo and behold, one way is 79 bucks! woohoo. Start getting the apples together for roasting, the marshmellows for toasting, the manchego for melting, and the vino for savoring. Yummm.
August 29th, 2005 @ 2:51 pm
“a lover you know you can’t keep” …beautiful!