2008 Fall

It is never so much the weather as the leaves which seem to mark the transition to Fall. Though the days have been warm, sunny, and summer-like, though everyone comments on the beauty of the day, I think the seasons changed officially today (or yesterday or tomorrow). From where I now sit, the tall poplar tree out front has lost many of its leaves, and out back, the leaves remaining on the trees are yellowing and becoming thin and brittle; their hold on the trees is tenuous. And the nights and morning are filled with chill; I am continuously under and/or overdressed. School has begun in earnest, and there is no escaping that I am committed to the end of the semester.

And so, as regularly as the Summer becomes the Fall, I am succumbing to the grip of my bi-annual cold. My bones ache, I am easily fatigued, and I consume aspirin and Tylenol like M&Ms. I carry boxes of tissues about, and my nose glows like that of W.C. Fields. I look for excuses to have a lie-down. The Alan Block Death Watch officially begins, only to be concluded in March with a complete physical and a clean bill of health from the good Doctor.

I don’t dislike the change of seasons at all; I feel at one with Nature during the transition as my own physical state mirrors that of Nature. I am myself moving into Fall and shoring myself for the long Winter.