Autumnal

Today was one of those incredible fall days that makes you happy to be alive. This is my very favorite kind of day. Let me describe it to you.

The clouds are huge, dark, and ominous, but never depressing because the golden sunlight, not yet watered down to its winter thinness, shines gloriously between them. Only in the autumn does the sun light the clouds from underneath, gilding them with an almost surreal pink-orange outline that contrasts beautifully with their dark blue interiors.

The leaves on the ground are big enough to cover your face; they remind me of leaves that dinosaurs probably ate. Smoothed into piles in the gutter, they make the most satisfying rustling and crunching noises as you sweep through them (the urge to disturb the landscaper's neat work is irresistible). Their cool dampness smells wonderfully like the earth and reminds you of all those crisp days you spent in your backyard after elementary school.

The air is cold, but not biting. It invigorates you, and it makes you want to run. Which I did. But I had to stop when I got to Parliament, because the image of the ornate Houses topped with cloud palaces and illuminated by a subtle pink-gold glow was stunning. The Thames was an opaque and choppy gray, and passerby donned thick scarves and warm pea coats, with red paper poppy flowers tucked into many buttonholes in honor of Remembrance Day on November 11.

You get to wear your thickest socks and a warm sweater and be deliciously cozy inside while you look out at the splendor that is autumn. And even though it's too early to be listening to Christmas music, you don't mind when your roommates play it on Pandora because it adds to the feeling of absolute, cozy comfort.

In short, you are in love with the world. Because it's not just beautiful to look at, it's beautiful to touch and run through and breathe in. Fall comes every year, and every year you are newly delighted with it, and you remember vividly all the falls that have come before it. The memories that hide in the brain's shadowy basement during the hot summer and freezing winter, cautiously emerging again for those few days when the world is perfect.

I live for days like this.


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It has been brought to my attention that in my last post, when I used the world "devalue" I actually meant the opposite, as devaluing money would actually make things more expensive. To this I say: I am in the College of Arts and Letters and I do not study real things. That's not entirely true. But it kind of is.