Fall is my favourite time of the year. So it was awesome to drive west from Toronto and then continue into the wilds of Michigan. The colour is just coming into the trees and Joe and I pointed out first this tree, then that burst of colour. It's early in the fall, trees sometimes are just beginning to blush at the realisation that they will soon stand stark naked for all the world to see. I love too the scent of fall. It's different than any time of the year.
Fall is the season of new beginnings. New notebooks, empty with promise, new pens - unchewed - wait to rush words over the page. For me the idea of new year is more powerfully felt in September than at any other time of the month. This, in my heart, is the yearly fresh start.
I remember being in my wheelchair that first year. Long before got the power wheelchair, Joe and I were cautious about how far we could go, with me as first gear and him as second gear, in the manual chair. As we drove through on our trip yesterday, I saw the colours and remembered us getting out of the car and in an instant our 'inner children' burst forth and Joe pushed me pell mell through a big pile of leaves. We stopped with Joe panting from the run with leaves scattered and floating down on just, gently thanking us for one more ride.
I think that moment might have been the moment where I saw not only fall, but my use of the wheelchair as simply another fresh start.
thanks Dave for helping me see fall in a fresh way (it is my least favourite time of year....I have always seen spring as a new beginning) and have never thought of fall in this way.
ReplyDeleteI suspect fall is the time for fresh starts because it's the start of the school year. I always seem to get restless in the fall. Good time for a road trip!
ReplyDeleteYes, we've all been heavily conditioned after 17 or 18 years of 'beginning' in September! It lasts the rest of our lives.
ReplyDeleteThis brought to mind that Yom Kippur, Jewish day of atonement, is in second half sept or first half of oct each year. That’s a new start too.
ReplyDeleteFall is definitely my favourite season. It's one of the things that made moving to Ontario worth it, although there are other things/people keeping me here now. Fall is amazing and beautiful, and the weather is just right. It's the only time that the weather is pleasant in Ottawa as far as I'm concerned.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful images - thanks for sharing. I've always loved fall the best - and secretly have a "thing" for new notebooks and pens!!
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