I am an autumn, in terms of color palette for my wardrobe. Being a redhead with aqua eyes and a very light complexion, I exude life, warmth, happiness best in the colors of autumn - rust and maroon and magenta and deep forest green. And so I blend in very nicely with the autumnal landscape, like a chameleon. I live in New York City surrounded by monoliths of steel and glass, tempered by the sweet stirrings of flowers in between concrete slabs, indoor atriums and grass shoots in the most unexpected places. And I love walking through Central Park knowing this floriferous haven bisects and intersects my borough and provides a quiet, contemplative and insulated venue from the noise pollution that plagues the city.
I love Central Park most especially in the autumn, because of the deciduous rainbow created by the trees as they sway balletically in the wind. But one autumn I wanted a more pronounced experience; I wanted to be surrounded by groves of trees and see the leaf-filled pillow on the ground a synthesis of hundreds of trees. I wanted to experience autumn in all my senses: the visual smörgåsbord and the audio symphony of falling leaves; the staccato concerto of leaves crunching beneath the weight of ponderous shoes; the smell of the earth as it prepares for slumber; the taste of autumn on the tongue and the touch of frost in the air nipping at the cheeks. It's a sensory delight, but more so in Springfield, Massachusetts, where I planned to spend the day in 1997.
I went with a friend. We woke up before the sun and went to the train station to buy our tickets. We boarded as the sun was turned on by the heavens, a fiery orange portending a hot day. We saw it gild the trees we past and beat mercilessly down on the dehydrated grass. And we were filled with awe at the beauty of the world, our protean world with its kaleidoscopic seasons, a constantly changing canvas for all of G-D's art, the temperature elevations and declensions. We spoke reverently of what we were witness to outside our windows. We even appreciated the daffodils shyly peeping through the curtain of weeds.
We switched to crossword puzzles and games just to rest our eyes, make use of a little mental stimulus and enhance our enjoyment of Springfield. And so occupied several hours. Finally we were there and we walked outside and were simply stupefied by nature. It held us in its thrall. There were more leaves on the ground than I had ever beheld in one place at one time before. I leapt into one fluffy, leafy trampoline and loved the crackle of disintegrating leaves beneath my sneakers. I looked all around me and we locked eyes and began to walk. And I think at that moment I understood a lot about life. How small we are in comparison to the world at large. How we only see the little picture confined by the prisons of our finite intelligence and our stationary relationships, geography, etc. And how G-D sees the big picture from above and manipulates all for our benefit, blesses us with the glory of nature, sends heavenly messages down to us through his tools - the trees, the sun, the wind.
We reveled in our surroundings, played like children for hours, marveled as we found nourishment for our bodies and souls. And then we headed back wiser, more satisfied and more fulfilled, not looking backward, looking onward to our future - a beautiful autumn.
