Autumn

This is my favorite time of year. The leaves are starting to change color (though it's nothing compared to the change of seasons in New York) and the weather is perfection. I love lazy fall days when the sun is shining and the sky seems bluer than it is any other time of year. Whether Indian Summer comes or not, there's just something spectacular about the blue sky of October and November; it's just more vibrant somehow- the blue of spring is warmer and more golden; the sky of summer is hard and hot; in winter everything has a sheen of silver and gray to it, even when there are no clouds. But in autumn, it's sapphire, a pure, true blue that takes nothing away from the rest of the scenery.
All of the colors are more vibrant. The people are, too; girls break out scarves, jeans make their first appearance in months now that it's cool enough to wear them, short skirts and boots paired with long coats and sweaters and bright colors. Pumpkins and corn stalks and bright stars shining in early night skies. Everything feels more real in the fall- the school year has begun again and even if it's been years or decades since you were in school, something of that "beginning of the year" feeling remains. To me, I've always felt that September is more of a new year than January.
And for me, fall is now the time of year when I met my husband. So there's the memory of two years ago, getting out of my brother's truck at the metro, wearing golden heels and a full skirt, walking up to the entrance of the metro station swaying my hips to introduce myself to the handsome, tall man waiting for me. Walking down King Street towards our first date in the cool, clear early evening of autumn. And our anniversary, Halloween, when I realized that this was more than just a fling and started to see that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with this man.

My favorite season, without a doubt.