Saturday, April 17, 2010

Fallling Away

Falling AwayOctober 6, 2009 by Rita Messina
I have always had a special affinity for Fall. There is just something about this time of year that affects me more deeply than any other season. It’s the dying of summer, it’s telling the green earth that it’s ok to get ready to take a nice long nap and to turn brown as it slumbers. We have enjoyed one of the most beautiful summers I can ever remember but it’s time to let go and embrace the changes.

I have raced through the first nine months of the year with my ridiculous life. I have worked, traveled, danced, created dances, attended festivals, helped with fund raisers, helped with weddings, attended weddings, attended funerals, visited, dined, raced to the next social engagement or appointment. This summer was so beautiful I could never turn down anybody who wanted to meet for a drink at a sidewalk cafe or one of the many restaurants we have that overlook the water. To sit outside in the warmth of a summer evening has been too rare of a gift in the Northwest. But now I look out my window and see the changes in the leaves and know that it’s time for me to make a change too, even though it’s temporary.

It’s time for me to slow down a little bit. Time to go through the stack of books I’ve collected over the summer and put in the order that I would like to read them. It’s time to actually watch the Netflix movies that I order instead of dusting them periodically, then sending them back after feeling guilty that I might be depriving somebody the opportunity of watching these movies.

Even though our days in the Pacific Northwest still look like summer you can step outside and feel that nip in the air. You can smell the difference between fall and summer. I welcome the chilly dampness we experience this time of year. So to counteract that chill, I turn on the oven that I’ve ignored all summer. The other night I had to have meatloaf and a baked potato and it was delicious. I am thinking that I will have to bake a ham this week, next week will be beef stew. I will follow this up with home made chicken noodle soup with big, thick egg noodles. Because these dishes will comfort me in some way that I can’t even fathom.

I will sit quietly and listen to what is going on inside my head. I will review decisions made. I will try to look at both sides of decisions not made. And I will nap now and then. I don’t care for naps in the summer. I don’t like waking up hot and sticky and grumpy. I like to crawl into an icy, cold bed and listen to the rain as my body warms the sheets. Then that warmth starts to make me drowsy and before I know it, I wake up and it’s dark outside. I will stretch and wiggle down into the warmth. I will lay there and listen to the rain, I’ll reach over and scratch the dog or a cat, whichever is closest. I will then turn on the light, grab a book and read till my eyes close again.

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