I may not know the joyous rapture of that classic Staples commercial yet, but fall will always be my favorite season. Though it may be the first day of September, this area is going back into the 90 degree weather for a bit, which really isn't helping my mood much.
I want to feel the crisp air and the smell of leaves and fireplaces beginning to reignite. I want to see the colors change and see the days turn into night faster. Well, I do miss the late sunsets, but even so it's ok as long as I get to put on my flannel jammies and curl up under the covers. I want to grab my favorite hoodies and go shopping for Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations. The farmers markets will be reopening along the road and we can gather mums and go pumpkin picking. I never actually carved a pumpkin until last year, which surprises me since I'm obsessed with the smell and flavor. Pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin Starbucks treats, mmm. And don't forget that evil confection otherwise known as candy corn. It's so bad yet so good.
What's really exciting me is that this year is the first my boyfriend and I will be living together during the fall. It's our favorite season, and he's obsessed with Halloween so we'll truly have a rockin' yard. It was harder when he was just here on weekends, but we still got a pretty cool pumpkin graveyard going last year. We were also more focused upon the Halloween wedding I was in and gathering the pieces together for our Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett costumes. Yeah folks, we're delightfully macabre. It's going to be amazing to share this with him.
While decorating the house, we found one of Van Gogh's prints Wheat Field with Crows, and it sums up much of the darker aspects about fall that I find so appealing. I look at it and see the howling wind, the deep toned night sky, the harvest pushing against the wind, the Gothic crows surrounding the scene. It's just beautiful.
I'm also particularly fond of the opening credits to the movie Halloween 4. Don't groan, it's an excellent representation of classic fall symbols! The minimal music was a wise choice as it showcases the creepiness of these simple blowing decorations, scarecrows, and farmland. It's really more of a Midwestern representation, but you don't have to live on a farm to feel the ambiance and a shared memory. Books, movies, and TV shows that one grows up with often makes Halloween and fall within wide open spaces of land and small towns. Fall feels beautiful in the city and the lights and colors play off brilliantly against the buildings, but nothing is going to quite affect you as much as the sight or memory of going to the Mom & Pop drugstore to buy your costume.
Fall and Halloween brings out my inner nostalgia and as I got older I also learned to appreciate the sensuality of the crisp, multicolored, yet dark and howling season. Many memories flood me, whether it's the good old days of trick or treating on a block where people actually enjoyed the holiday, going and looking at a scarecrow arts competition in a nearby village during college, walking through NYC on my way to the annual Broadway Cares flea market, or stocking the store I used to work at with our multitudes of Halloween merchandise and listening to the amazing seasonal and spooky contemporary music (that I managed to recreate on my iTunes). If you need me this season, I'll be sipping on a pumpkin frapp while watching slasher movies in my navy cableknit hoodie.
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