autumn 1st.

today, if you have not yet heard, is the first day of a new season, one which many claim as their favourite. i have in years past been an avid yea-sayer with such folk: "fall is best, oh yes, oh yes!", and "down, down, with summer- let fall begin to fall!"

this year, however, has proven to be somewhat contradictory as concerns my seasonal preferences. winter was white and wonderful; spring began with a nearly wholly foggy month and afterward blossomed and sprang with new fervor. and then came summer! the blessed heat of the sun, producing vegetables in my garden, long summer nights in which to ride my bike, and freckles upon tan on my skin, warmed me entirely anew to this marvelous season's sweetness. i made it very clear to all who inquired [and some who did not] that i was loathe to see its end. days began to have a crispness about them, the sun set earlier with every passing day, and the treetops were set moderately ablaze. still i denied it. fall would never again hold the charms of former days. never, never.

but the funniest thing happened today. it's autumn the first, the official beginning to this new season which shall indeed see us through to nearly the end of december! today began a bit earlier than usual, with a cheery brightness as i sped off to work. increasingly the day became darker, and reports from generous, eager, amateur forecasters were proven accurate [this time anyway] and, a bit abruptly, the torrents burst upon us.

i made my way home through the wet streets, and shortly thereafter headed out again bedecked in skirt, leggings, boots, raincoat, and scarf, for, favorite season or not, the first day of fall is a worthy occasion for which to dress! i visited my dear thrift shop, at which i acquired a classy blouse and an all-wool striped sweater, kindly bespeaking the season at hand. the weather was somewhat torrential at this point, and rather resembled hurricanic activity, for while it has been wet enough of late to irrigate a rainforest, the breeze was... stiff. therefore, as necessity necessitated, it was my utmost delight to dash through the parking lot. afterwards i was off to the grocer's for a bag of rosy red macintosh apples, with which to make a carmelly-cobblery delight which even now sits cooling on the stovetop. after another scurry with flying skirts 'twixt automobiles and raindrops, i was off through blusts and gusts to the post office, where i purchased the very best of stamps for two hand-written, typewriter-addressed letters to friends in various states; although, it must here be said that the selection of stamps was grim: mother teresa, wedding rings, some bleak and forbidding purple design, or a puerto-rican poet of whom i'd no former knowledge. i chose the puerto-rican, of course.

well, lest this become an everlasting epistle, i came home, brewed a pot of Lady Grey, switched on classical MPR, and donned my apron. after the delectable apple-delight was safe in the depths of a warm oven, we partook of our supper, which was also sublimely autumnal, with fresh homemade bread to sop up our steaming beef and tres-vegetabley soup. [dessert yet remains a future occurrence, but shall not tarry long.]

i suppose none of these events are terribly ideal, but they, combined with the cozy-cloudy-blusteryness of the day, seemed to make me realize that fall isn't so bad after all. i was simply not yet prepared to begin a season which itself had not yet commenced. it's all very clear to me now that it's begun in earnest. so, caramel-apple-cobbler in hand, and cozy homelights and dear family surrounding us as the rain beats down upon our snug roof, we shall step bravely into the unknown yet well-familiar loveliness of fall as it begins to truly and beautifully fall.