June 10, 2018 – Sunday
I woke up today and it was October. No, I am not waking up from a coma and as far as I know, all of my marbles are intact … but it’s still October. Except it’s not. It’s June. Almost MID-June.
And yet – I am experiencing autumn. Again. Always.
The NW is a bit uncanny this way. I love autumn with all its colors and changing, falling leaves, pumpkins (but not pumpkin spiced latte everything or anything – ew!) … jewel-toned colors and cozy sweaters … and all things hygge (hoo-guh: the Danish word (and apparently US obsession) for being cozy) … start in October. And all through October and November … I LOVE it. I can’t get enough of sweaters and that crisp edge and dead-leaf smell in the air (when it’s not raining!) and pumpkins marching down front porch steps.
But, waking up to that October chill in the air day after day, week after week, month after month, has me feeling a bit Bill Murray-esque (though I’m not learning French or the piano) and I am stuck in my own sort of Groundhog Day … but with old dogs instead of a fat woodchuck. And Ned Ryerson is no where to be found.
This morning was no different. I lay in bed, snuggled under my comforters and before I opened my eyes I visualized my room in my last home in Illinois … I loved that bedroom. It was so sweet and romantic. The old windows, at the head of my bed, rattled in the wind and I could see out to my little yard and the oak forest that my home was nestled within. With eyes closed I could see the lonely maple across the street with its rust and golden and crimson leaves … the singular dash of autumn in a sea of brown oaks.
Still, with eyes closed, I can smell it … IT … that autumn crispness that is ONLY autumn. (Well, usually only autumn.) And, if I strain my ears a bit more … I can hear the high school band finishing up their practice notes, readying for the day’s football game.
I get this all in a nanosecond of consciousness somewhere between slumber and wakefulness. And I open my eyes and I’m not in that cozy room with its sage-colored walls, dove white built-ins and the plush taupe carpet. I’m here … in this NW bedroom with the painted blackboard wall reminding me of passion and purpose, the shabby chic closet doors (that I made myself because nothing is square in this house and no store-bought doors would fit!), and the fluffy sugar-plum pink area rug that my toes touch first thing out of bed.
And it’s JUNE.
The blueberries should be ripening soon. The sign up off the highway should be up any day, hawking the farm’s quarter-sized blues … but I still feel like they should have their sign up for pumpkins, instead!
My calendar business winds down in October. I take the final orders and count my fortune or losses (usually losses) and I keep having to remind myself that it is JUNE and I need to build a fire under my butt to get myself into any semblance of work-mode because my brain is stuck in all things FALL.
My heat is on. I’m wearing black leggings and a soft rust-colored tunic (very autumnal). I guess if I dressed for summer, it might feel more like summer. Or it might feel like the dead of winter cuz I’d be freezing my buns off!
Today it’s 56 sizzling degrees. We have what the northwesterners call “sun breaks” (as in it’s partly cloudy, people) … some clouds, some sun … it changes every 10 minutes or so. Big puffy clouds and low lying, scuttling gray ones share the skies above the navy blue of the passage. It’s breezy so there are a few white-caps today. Maybe we’ll get rain.
From inside it looks like it could be 80 degrees outside! My tree is in full green leaf … my magenta and orange geraniums are in wild bloom in my flower boxes off the living room windows … the rose bushes on my deck and the south side of the house are displaying pink with magenta stripes (so sweet smelling!) and long-stemmed coral and bright orange blooms the size of my palm. The multi-colored snaps dragons are happy in my deck containers – ready to sing at my command – and are so bright this year they look like they are lit from within.
And yet … I go outside and it feels like October. I close my eyes and instead of the containers of flowers on my deck, I imagine a hay bundle and pumpkin display. Gourds and squashes and a fat, Cinderella pumpkin taking center stage amongst the small groupings of purple asters and burgundy mums.
I just have to tell you – it is the weirdest thing!
I’m in this seasonal time-warp and unless the weather warms up – here I’ll stay … as I have been since … October! The endless autumn! 8 months of autumn! Even for me, that’s a bit much!
But, there is hope and seasonal change in sight. I looked at our forecast last night and I only have to wait ONE MORE WEEK and it looks like we’ll be warming up to the (omg) 70s … and (OMG!!!!) even a few days of (dare I even type this?) … 80s! My neighbors will all be sweltering (anything over 68 degrees and they start complaining about the HEAT! I just say, “Take off your coat!!!!”). SUMMER is coming! It is in the wings. She is waiting for her grand entrance.
And, as much as I truly love all things autumnal … I can’t wait for outdoor dinners, tank tops, and the sweet warmth of summer’s sun on my skin.
It’s about time. After all, it’s JUNE!