Falling

Today the first whisper of fall reached the ears of southern Louisiana.

Oh, the FIRST day of September arrived with a whistle of cooler wind to replace the blasts than summer's furnace routinely delivered, but that flirtation with fall lasted only a few days and by week's end the mugginess had returned - not to be blown away until today - the LAST day of September (sigh).

This time of year, when the cycle of seasonal change is so welcome as a respite from the heat, also ushers in a new season of the soul.

I take longer walks. I ponder more. The frenzied pace of summer activities slows to the steady routines of of the season :

- school children's voices in the morning, waiting at the corner for the bus with squeaky brakes;

- the scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch of old men raking leaves on their too-manicured lawns;

- birds joining into flocks to either fly or forage more efficiently and in perfect synchrony;

- smells - especially those of food cooking and various kinds of wood, burning - become more intense as the air chills and brings air molecules closer together;

- sounds seem louder and closer as a result of the same phenomenon of physics, as my science teacher sister Jacqueline would remind me. I can more easily hear the church bells.

As a child, I loved all seasons wholeheartedly, finding in each one, many glorious reasons to enjoy life and exploiting every benefit each season offered.

Fall brought leaf catching and camping out and fairs and festivals and cozy sweaters and snuggling and warm pies and hearty gumbos and cups of rich, sweet, cafe au lait on the porch with grandma Lillian across the street - steam rising in curlicues from the frothy mix of cream and coffee.

As an adult, I find myself gravitating towards loving most that season that mirrors my age: fall. I still love catching leaves and camping out and fairs and festivals, and all those other reasons, too, plus a few more:

- I love seeing longtime friends and am touched by how age has softened not only their features, but their dispositions as well. It's always striking to me to see how my former girlfriends' and/or distaff classmates' faces have not changed hardly at all since I knew them as little girls, or young women, but perhaps my longfelt affection for them places corrective "lenses" on my eyes, as i am regularly startled by the sight of my own features in a mirror.

I am also heartened by the sincere camaraderie expressed by the guys, despite all of the rivalries and other rough treatment we foisted upon one another way back when. Forgiveness, or a bad memory, is a wonderful thing, as calendar leaves fall away.

In calendar terms, by the way, if we are "born" on the first day of Spring (Mar 20) and "die" on the final day of winter (Mar 19), then I am fully "fall" right now :

I'm Oct 6 if I live to be 100, Oct 28th if 90, Nov 25th if 80 (my father's age now), but Dec 29, a week into winter - if I only live to 68 (my father's father's age when he died).

So, time's awastin' ! Time to fully enjoy fall today !