It's Fall, Dammit!

I love fall it's my favorite season. Even though it's the beginning of "death season," leaves start to change and then die, harvesting comes to an end. I love fall. For me it has always been the time of new beginnings. Every fall I would get new school supplies, get my fall clothes and reinvent myself for school. What cool things had I done that summer? What revelations about my psyche was I read y to implement? And most importantly what horrible habits was I getting rid of? I was a new person every September. And one of the things that always helped me achieve that newness was clothes. Big sweaters, opaque tights and boots! Not the ugly snow-proof boots, but the cute boots that you wear before slush season. But now in October it is 90 degrees outside! What the hell? I went to school to pick up my daughter and all the moms were in shorts and tank tops! Not that I ever wear shorts or tank tops - at least not out in public. But here I was in my jeans and cute 3/4 sleeve tops and I was sweating! Why you ask? Because on Labor Day I put all my summer clothes away, along with any white shoes I might or might not own. Because after Labor Day you just don't DO that kind of thing. It's fall dammit. Where are my red leaves and warm apple cider? I think you all know where this is going - good ole' Al Gore.

I have always been a firm believer in global warming even if I really didn't understand exactly what it was. But after watching An Inconvenient Truth, and repeatedly taking the "reduce your carbon footprint quiz" until I was firmly below average, I think I get it. And after 90 degree weather in October, I really get it. What we do matters. What we drive, what we eat and what we throw away - it matters. We own one car. We eat organic, buy locally and recycle everything recyclable. We are decreasing our meat consumption to eventually become vegetarians (look for that post later) and we turn off the lights after leaving a room. So why can't we have fall? Why can't there be different earths for different people? Sort of like heaven, purgatory and hell. Hell being the place where single, childless people who drive Suburbans through the McDonald's drive-thru live - and it's hot there, you know like hell-hot. And heaven consists of all people co-habitating with every animal while eating tofu. I would take purgatory. There would probably be taxes and I would even deal with people who drive while talking on their cell phones if I could get fall back. Good old autumn.

But here's the rub: we get to share this planet with all people, Suburban drivers and tofu eaters. Not to disparage either group. And we have to figure out how to live with all different types of people. I wish I could create a tribe of the flawless, but that is not possible. Nor preferable. All I want is to have to stop wearing flip flops and be forced into a sweater. Because I get to reinvent myself via my wardrobe and I also get to pull my family closer. To nestle indoors with them and cook with them and be driven crazy by them when it is too cold to send them outside. Am I romanticizing the fall - you bet. But right now I would take a romantic walk down a leaf-littered lane to this heat. Pay attention to the environment. And I will do the same. Help me get fall back.

in peace