September: My favourite month of the year.
And, not only because it serves as a marker of another year older (though, to know me is to understand that even in my 30’s, I begin counting down weeks in advance to the date of my birth), but because creeping out from the corners of the world is change.
Hanging sharply in the air, pungent chimney smoke streaks the black of night with wafts of grey and the sidewalks are beautifully littered with crisp golden leaves that crackle under foot. I literally wrap autumn around me in thick, cozy sweaters and steaming soup that has been left to simmer for hours. To me, there is nothing more comforting than the feel of fall.
Yesterday, amidst a hurried morning of dropping my daughter at school before attending an appointment, I made my way along the quiet downtown streets, amazed at how all traces of the summer’s visitors had vanished with the last few days of August. It was tranquil, joyously so that the suspect noise of honking cars and rushing traffic left little to no effect on me.
Without a clear destination in mind, I opened the door to Starbucks and waited patiently in its usual line. I ordered, positioned myself in one of those soft and coveted chairs that coffeehouses are known for, and sipped at the spicy chai latte as it gnawed back on my taste buds. Pulling a book out of my oversized bag, I opened the creased cover to the pages I had left off on in early summer. The words leapt off the pages, broken Italian phrases, descriptions depicting a poetic and heartfelt storyline, my cheeks burned with embarrassment at my carelessness in tossing it aside so early on. Perhaps, its meatiness was too much to be considered a perfect companion for a day at the beach.
I looked up from my copy of Eat Pray Love from time to time, as a gust of wind followed a customer in, to watch the varying faces both in store and out – chatting with friends, reading the newspaper or passing in haste to return to work. Some were old with deep, crevassed lines etched across their skin… like I will be one day. Some young, arms stretched outward, spinning in dizzying circles… like I once was. And, it was then that I saw that change creeps out from the corners of the world every second of every minute of every hour… of every season.
I’m not so obtuse to have been blind to this realizations prior to yesterday (parenting makes one acutely aware of how quickly change occurs and time dissolves), but maybe, for me at least, fall permits me the grace of just being… and watching what goes on around us every second of every minute of every hour… of every season.