Thursday, September 26, 2019

Autumn's Splendor

It's officially autumn here in California, as it is everywhere in the northern hemisphere. Our area hasn't quite figured that out yet. Leaves are still green and firmly attached to their branches. Summer flowers still bloom and temperatures, although they're cooling, still feel like summer most afternoons. Still, there are signs that autumn will soon arrive.

The fall is my second favorite season. I'm more of a spring person. I love it when the days begin to lengthen and temperatures start to warm but have not yet reached scorching levels. I crave the first blossoms in the local almond and peach orchards and make a point each year of at least one good pilgrimage out through the orchards, just soaking in the beauty. I adore April when it seems everything in our area blossoms prodigiously, and I'm a great fan of the crape myrtle that blooms in early June. We still have a few intensely pink flowers on our crape myrtle as I look out my office window.

Autumn promises cooling after the scorching, one-hundred-degree-plus days of August and, by the time the season is in full swing, it has magnificent color all its own. I always feel a certain sadness at the shortening of the days and the approach of bare, leafless winter, but I still can't help but appreciate the beautiful autumn we have in our part of the Sacramento Valley near the Sierra Nevada foothills.

In our little bit of heaven, we have the largest municipal park in the nation. In the autumn season, it's filled with colorful sites, especially at the bridges that cross the creek and in the lovely public pool in the center of the park where the creek is temporarily held back for swimmers.

Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" all happen here, each with its own clear signature. It's time to welcome autumn now. I'm ready.


Susan's newest series explores the four seasons in nearby locales.  Paris in the Springtime and Sunny's Summer are available now. Look for Amber in Autumn and Winter Skye, both coming soon in e-book and paperback. 

5 comments:

  1. So far, in Oklahoma, it's been warm and I haven't noticed fall.

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  2. Spring is my favorite season too, except for the allergies that come with it. I loved your beautiful pictures.

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  3. Seasons are marked here by temperatures, not leaves, although we do get lots of cacti flowers in the spring as well as wild flowers along the roadways. The weather is definitely cooling here in the desert of southern AZ. July and August were hotter than normal because we didn't get the monsoon rains. Sometimes October can even be hot here, but the last couple of weeks of September have cooled into the 80s. So sweet.

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  4. Still pretty warm in PA. But trees Re starting to turn. I love fall!

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