Moody Month

Committing to a favorite season has always been difficult.  I absolutely love a layer of snow in winter--but that's about it.  I love the renewal of the garden in spring and the freshness of it all--but it's not full and lush yet.  And as much as I appreciate the exuberant blooming flower beds of summer--it's too hot for me.  So maybe fall is becoming my new favorite--this fall in particular.

This is the first autumn in Oregon where I've seen everything change color.  Lots of maples reliably turn brilliant shades of yellow, pink, red and orange, but this is the first year I remember the grape vines turning golden.  (Mine, of course, have not.  They hardly have enough leaf growth--being only two and a half years old--to be noticeable.)  Since I pass vineyards when I'm out and about, this has been a lovely fall transition.  

One thing we get a lot of this time of year is fog.  Sometimes it's almost white outside in the mornings.  It feels cozy if I can be home in it.  As it burns off, the light is ethereal.  Sometimes I can leave the house in clear, bright sunshine, but as soon as I start down the hill, I dive into thick soup that changes the whole mood of the day.  And at night after leaving the freeway, as I start winding up the mountain, I can enter a fog bank that's so dense and eerie, I have to slow to 15 miles per hour for fear of missing a turn.  

The other thing we get a lot of, starting in October, is rain.  It's a nuisance and a necessity.  September can still be scorching, so the ground is parched.  By the end of October everything greens-up and the Northwest comes into it's rich, luxurious own.  I never noticed rain much growing up in Seattle.  My parents would tell me that Portland gets more extremes than Seattle--in temps and rain--and maybe so.  But even now I wouldn't be as aware if it weren't for having a dog that needs to go out--but doesn't want to go out in the rain!  I can't blame her.  We get a lot of wind up here.  And the only thing worse than rain, is cold, blowing, slanting rain.  

But with it, we do get reflections.