PROMPTuesday #203: Autumn

I love fall’s first snap, even in Southern California. It’s a slowing, a storing up, a softening I look forward to every year.

The blue skies mute imperceptibly at first, the light looks like an impressionist painting. There’s a barely noticeable chill that lends itself to visions of fireplaces, hot cocoa, good books and thick sweaters.

The lengthening (rather, the shortening) into winter thrills my bones. Cozy, warm things beckon and anticipatory excitement builds for the holidays.

I think I like autumn most of all because it reminds me of shopping for school supplies, thumbing through Seventeen Magazine, mentally assembling perfect back-to-school outfits, waiting for snow while kicking up crispy leaves on the playground. Fall for me is always the promise of things to come: better grades, new crushes, the perfect Christmas gift and things to cherish: an afghan throw, a cushy couch, a Happy New Year (for once!).

Also: the way it darkens early, cloaking my physical world in all the fantasy, unspoken and imagined allure that exists in my head every day of the year. Plus: Halloween! Spooky. And I love my spooky.

Lo, though I hate spring. It’s so false, so gaudy, so easy. Fall-winter twinkles, spring glares.

It’s interesting to note that my baby will be born in mid-February, straddling the seasons (the ones I love, the ones the deplore). A cosmic lesson perhaps.*

*I first wrote this in 2003, and it’s all still so the same.

What is your ode to fall?

A few caveats:

1) Keep it to 500 words or less.

4) Let it come.

Please post your submission in the comments OR post in your blog and leave a link to your blog in the comments.

First time to PROMPTuesday? Read a bit about it here. Want to see what’s been written in the past? Catch up on the PROMPTuesdays archive here.

(Photo from here)