Although many marked the end of summer on Labor Day, summer
ended, for real, as they say, Monday. It began to make its presence
known recently with days of shorter duration, periodic nights with
blankets, a morning or two with visible breath and red, orange or
yellow leaves scattered amid the green ones on trees.
I love each season for what it offers, but fall rustles my soul.
It’s a contemplative season. In fact, New Year’s Eve would be more
appropriate if it were in fall rather than winter. Autumn is, after
all, an allegory for the passing of what has been. What better time
to take stock in what has been and, thusly, make pledges for what
will be?
Fall brings with it numerous aromas – the fragrance of dying
leaves, burning leaves, fires behind hearths. More than anything, I
think, fragrances trigger memories. The smell of something can
conjure a flood of memories as images in one’s mind, therefore, I
tend to get a bit nostalgic this time of year.
This time of year also brings the start of my reading season.
Unlike many people, I don’t compile summer reading lists. The long,
warm days of spring and summer find me outside doing yard work and
other outdoor projects. I get antsy if I spend too much time inside
during summer, so I try to spend every minute of daylight – and
even many of the warm nights – outside.
The opposite is true now. Shortening days and cooler
temperatures drive me indoors, where few things are as comforting
or enjoyable as wrapping oneself in a blanket and reading a book. I
think, too, that the many years spent in school and refocusing the
mind at this time of year has become almost instinctive.
Now is the time to ponder ideas. Of course, because Halloween is
the biggest event of the season, I have made it a tradition to
select an appropriate book to read in the days before the spooky
fun. Past selections have included “Frankenstein” and “Dracula,”
for example.
It is the day after Halloween that I turn my sights toward
winter. This is when I get excited about seeing snow and long for a
lot of it. Of course, the last few winters have been kind of a
letdown in that department.
There’s always time to worry about that later, though. For now,
it’s time simply to enjoy the season at hand.
Happy fall.
Matthew Vuletich is the managing editor of the Douglas County
News-Press.