Fall

What a boring title. (A hint to those who write: if you show an awareness of your own weak passages, their weakness changes to humor. …..right?)

A few weeks ago I caught the first suggestion of autumn. It was like a little suggestion of truth tucked between the sentences of a lie. There was a hesitance to the wind, an inconsistency to the heat. The sun seemed to be glancing slightly way. But it was still hot enough feel my shirt sticking to my back. I still couldn’t quite catch my breath in the humidity. Summer really hadn’t given up yet.

But this weekend, I’ve finally been able to pull out and dust off that old adjective, “cold.” I also pulled out all my warm weather clothes. Right now they’re sitting in a few piles around my room. Some are waiting for the wash, others for dry cleaning, and all of them are waiting for me to have some spare time.

Maybe it’s because I grew up in the frozen north, but fall clothes are my favorites. Maybe its the warm hug of sweaters of the swish of vinyl jackets. Maybe its the way girls tug, sometimes nervously, sometimes with excitement, at the bottom of their sleeves. Or it could be because I’m colorblind and fall’s earthen tones are easy to coordinate. But my cold weather wardrobe is by far the largest, and even in summer I wear jeans and shirts with the sleeves rolled up. In a time I can’t remember, my parents tell me, I used to protest shorts and short sleeves alike. Maybe it’s some kind of complex?

This morning it was rainy. It was a cool, horizontal rain that fell sporadically enough to have just beem water blown off of buildings nearby. Today, for the first time this year, fallen leaves were more abundant than rain drops. But now the sun is setting behind the only cloud (albeit a large one) in the sky. The light shining on the houses and briges passing outside my train window is white and clear. It’s unhindered by the dense humidity and haze that have clogged the air since June. It’s definitely time to head out with my camera again.

The actual period of colorful, falling leaves barely lasts two weeks here. Compared to the summer in this part of Japan, autumn is like the swift, accidental touch of someone handing you your change. It might be over before you notice, but it’s something your whole body reacts to. And sometimes, it’s exactly what you’ve been wanting.

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