Without so much as glancing at the calendar, it has become poignantly clear that it is fall in Minnesota. A familiar chill now hangs in the air, darkness greets us a bit earlier and the bronzing foliage decorates the tree line. This summer aside - as we had uncharacteristically cool temperatures for the majority of the past four months – fall is typically welcomed by Midwesterner’s alike with open arms as a much need break from the summer heat and humidity. Beyond the temperature of course, there is a sense of a return to ‘normalcy’ for some. Considering the frozen tundra we all willingly inhabit for 6 months plus a year, spring and summer quickly become a jam- packed, schedule- juggling masquerade of weddings, grad parties, BBQs, town festivals, etc, etc, etc and somehow fall seems to offer solace from the hustle and bustle. I often wonder if people in year round, neutral climates like California feel this same sense of “change” in the fall.
Then of course there is Football, a season all its own in many households. We gladly cancel plans to sit on the couch for four hours to watch multi-million dollar athletes throw a ball back and forth down a field; and hey I am not judging, I am often a member of this society. But what is it exactly about fall that seems to wrench such emotion and nostalgia from me? What is so unique about this particular passage into a new season? I don’t become even remotely introspective about the beginning of winter? In fact I feel quite angry about that change, but I suppose that is another entry entirely!
For example, about a week ago I was standing on the corner of 32nd and Bryant waiting for the number 4 bus with my ipod blaring Michael Buble’s “Haven’t Met you Yet” in my ears and as I looked up I saw a cascade of amber leaves falling to the ground in front of me; I was instantly captivated and a bizarre sense of sentiment crashed over me. What is that? Perhaps it is the culmination of the weather and the beloved festivities that fall brings for me; football season, my birthday, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas?
Whatever rationale exists, I love fall. And although I know it will not last long as big bad winter will soon come to over power my favorite time of year, I am grateful for this window of opportunity to feel truly inspired every day - by the beautiful colors around me, by the undeniable enthusiasm people evoke, and by the cool air that I breath deeply into my lungs when I step outside.
Then of course there is Football, a season all its own in many households. We gladly cancel plans to sit on the couch for four hours to watch multi-million dollar athletes throw a ball back and forth down a field; and hey I am not judging, I am often a member of this society. But what is it exactly about fall that seems to wrench such emotion and nostalgia from me? What is so unique about this particular passage into a new season? I don’t become even remotely introspective about the beginning of winter? In fact I feel quite angry about that change, but I suppose that is another entry entirely!
For example, about a week ago I was standing on the corner of 32nd and Bryant waiting for the number 4 bus with my ipod blaring Michael Buble’s “Haven’t Met you Yet” in my ears and as I looked up I saw a cascade of amber leaves falling to the ground in front of me; I was instantly captivated and a bizarre sense of sentiment crashed over me. What is that? Perhaps it is the culmination of the weather and the beloved festivities that fall brings for me; football season, my birthday, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas?
Whatever rationale exists, I love fall. And although I know it will not last long as big bad winter will soon come to over power my favorite time of year, I am grateful for this window of opportunity to feel truly inspired every day - by the beautiful colors around me, by the undeniable enthusiasm people evoke, and by the cool air that I breath deeply into my lungs when I step outside.