A Late Autumn Afternoon On My Street
Autumn is my favorite season. The weather fronts that had been blowing north from the south or southwest bringing heat and humidity have been replaced with air flowing in from the northwest and north. Winds wring the moisture from the air in the form of cold rain or sleet or snow flurries.
Fall is the most colorful time of year with its blazing trees, autumnal flowers, and dramatic skies. On a clear day, the sky is an infinite blue, its hue unique to this time of year. The colors are made more vibrant by the angle of the sun as it rapidly heads southward, stealing hours from the day.
I even enjoy the shortening days with their late sunrises and premature dusk. Twilight comes and goes in an instant replaced by a chilly darkness. Street lamps seem to glow warmer as the temperature drops.
It is a melancholy time too. The freedom of summer and its long days of light rapidly transitions into the cold and darkness with its promise of months of sterile white and black. In the air, rich with the smell of damp fallen leaves, there is a soft whisper of passing. The annuals are dead and the rest of the world is preparing for a deep sleep. Song birds make fleeting appearances at my bird feeders as they migrate from Canada southward to the Gulf of Mexico or Central America. They seldom stay longer than a couple of days before they too are gone and silence settles in for the next five months.
Autumn is like the final fireworks salute at the end of a July 4th night. A flamboyant display of over the top colors and lights that even after they are done leaves visual memories on the backs of your eyes. Long after the leaves have fallen I will continue to see their ghosts shimmering in the cold wet darkness.