My mother likes to share a story of when I was in elementary school. As she was picking me up from school one September afternoon, I took a long inhale:
"Do you smell that, Mom?"
"Smell what?"
"Fall!"
I can actually recall this moment and this feeling quite well. Before I was old enough to appreciate the concept of an equinox, I could smell--feel--when fall had arrived. Cooler, darker evenings heralded the start of my favorite season. I treated the first cool fall day much like how kids in movies treat the first snow of winter. My energy skyrocketed; each breath of cool dry air was like a jolt of electricity. I felt as though I could run and play for hours at a time. (Where did all that energy go??)
Over the years, that feeling--which began with a long inhale and stayed with me until winter--has definitely faded for me, and at times was not felt at all. Blame it on climate change or the stress of life or just getting older... whatever the reason, it hasn't been there for a while. But this year felt different.
I've recently shared about an evening at the beginning of this month that felt like the beginning of the season. While I still feel that was valid, the weather this past weekend had me experiencing that long lost childhood feeling again... I took a big whiff and thought, Fall!
Though the temperatures will be warming up again this week in Central Florida, this past Thursday and Friday were quite pleasant. The highs were only in the low 80s with low humidity (as evidenced by the cloudless skies).
This evening we celebrated by going for a short bike ride through a few local neighborhoods at sunset. Winding through the suburban roads brought back memories of biking through my childhood neighborhood to plan my trick-or-treating route.
Happy Autumn Equinox!
