October 22, 2009

I love autumn.

It is my favourite season by far, despite the fact that it signifies the end of summer and the preparation for a long, cold, Canadian winter. (Note to American readers: we do not break out the snowshoes, fatten up the sled dogs, and hunker down in our igloos…but it does get cold, just like New York or Boston or Detroit.) There’s just something about autumn: the colours, the smells, the cool breeze in the air. I love everything about it.

When I was a kid, we had a huge maple tree in our front yard, and I mean HUGE. Every fall, it would rain down so many leaves that we would have a giant mound of leaves by the curb that was so high we would actually use it as a hiding spot when we would play hide-and-seek at night. Sometimes, we would gather all of the leaves and pile them at the base of my neighbour’s garage, and then climb on the roof and jump into the pile, which cushioned our fall because it was so massive. Then, my friends and I would grab our rakes and walk up and down the street, raking yards for a dollar or two (it was 1980-ish) and having a blast. Oh, the wonders of remembering your childhood and talking about all the things I used to do that I would never let Lucas do now, like hide in a pile of leaves on the road or jump off the garage. The irony…

I went for a walk last night because it was just too nice of a night to stay inside. It had rained during the day, so on the paths around my neighbourhood, all you could smell was the combination of rain and leaves, which was a fantastic fall treat for the senses. There’s also an area just around the corner from my house where the trees are turning almost in sync with each other right now, and there’s just a fantastic combination of bright reds and oranges all in a row.

It reminds me of that scene in When Harry Met Sally when Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan are walking through a park in the fall. The conversation is really secondary to the amazing backdrop of orange and falling leaves. It’s such a great image, it’s what they used for the poster, the cover of the DVD, and the soundtrack. I could easily post a picture of that scene, but I think it’s much more entertaining to just show the cover of the Danish version, Harry Und Sally. I sense a strong emphasis on the ‘Und’, don’t you?
Do you love autumn as much as I do? If not, what is your favourite season, and why?