After spending 28 years in southern tropical climates, I can barely sit still with the idea of experiencing a real autumn this year. South Florida fall weather pretty much only means the end of Hurricane season and temperatures slightly below 80 degrees. The only images I’ve seen of seasons have been on TV, paintings, or on a postcard.
One semester in college, my best friend sent me a letter from Wellesley College. Inside her beige envelope, I found her much anticipated chicken scratch penmanship on a beautiful Fall landscaped postcard of New England, as well as a single, delicately flattened maple leaf that had already transformed into the brilliant shades of the autumn. It was my first contact with an actual season besides summer. In a sense it felt like a moon rock from another galaxy. Never in my life did my friend feel so far away.
Ten years later, I now find myself living in the very place that single leaf grew, turned, and fell. It’s funny how life unfolds. So needless to say, I can hardly contain myself anticipating this first chance to live within that postcard.
When my cousin invited us to New Hampshire to get a glimpse of the fall foliage this Columbus Day weekend, it was a no brainer. I could have had plans for a free shopping spree in New York City, and I would cancel (well, probably).