My Fall Revision

When I lived up north, I always hated fall. People always talked about how beautiful the leaves were and how crisp the mornings, but all I saw was death. Yes, the colors of the dying leaves are very pretty, but to me they only foretold the winter, which is all about death. I loved the life of spring and summer, and the warmer temperatures that came with them. In North Florida, we still have seasons, they just aren't as extreme as those in the Mid-Atlantic region.

This evening as I stood on my porch, grilling a chicken breast, I marveled at how lovely autumn is here. We don't always have distinct seasons; sometimes summer goes straight to winter, winter right into summer. But for the past week, we've been having the most glorious fall -- temperatures in the sixties at night and the eighties in the daytime. The sky has been a sharp shade of blue, tinged with just the occasional cloud. A nice breeze has come through now and then. I could savor this weather year 'round.

I know part of what has made me appreciate this week's weather is its rarity. I used to love the hot summers here, but I have less tolerance for extreme heat as I get older (and the same goes for the cold). I still love the sunshine, and the sun is hot in Florida no matter what the temperature may be. Right now, the sun is slipping down and my toes -- sticking out of their flip-flops, which incidentally would anger my podiatrist -- are a little chilly. I kind of like it. Tomorrow when I head downtown for my early class, I'll probably need a sweater. I like that too. In light of all of the above, I've revised my opinion of fall -- in Florida, at least. It's pretty great.