Like a lot of people, fall is my favorite season. I grew up in Chicago where October usually meant temps anywhere from the mid 50's to the high 70's. Days were increasingly cloudy and windy with some rain thrown in here and there. I've lived in the Pacific Northwest (Seattle area), and now in the Southeast (not the southernmost tip of Florida, but the Georgia/Florida border), but Fall in the Chicago area, and the city itself, is my touchstone.
As a kid, I remember raking leaves with my dad, then we would burn them in the street. It was legal then, and we didn't know any better. The smell was heavenly, and since most of the neighbors were doing the same, the camaraderie was excellent. This wasn't a suburb, it was a neighborhood in Chicago. The adults would walk back and forth between houses and across the street, and yell at kids that got too close to the fire. The kid didn't have to be yours, it was anybody's and parents did not get upset with the neighbor, the kid got yelled at. The kids had fun. There were 10 my age, 6 that I can remember being younger and some my sisters' age, (I don't remember how many, they mostly ignored us.) We caught garter snakes and roasted them on sticks, (Don't judge, it was a different time.), played tag, marbles, and saw how far we could kick stuff.
As a kid, I remember raking leaves with my dad, then we would burn them in the street. It was legal then, and we didn't know any better. The smell was heavenly, and since most of the neighbors were doing the same, the camaraderie was excellent. This wasn't a suburb, it was a neighborhood in Chicago. The adults would walk back and forth between houses and across the street, and yell at kids that got too close to the fire. The kid didn't have to be yours, it was anybody's and parents did not get upset with the neighbor, the kid got yelled at. The kids had fun. There were 10 my age, 6 that I can remember being younger and some my sisters' age, (I don't remember how many, they mostly ignored us.) We caught garter snakes and roasted them on sticks, (Don't judge, it was a different time.), played tag, marbles, and saw how far we could kick stuff.
When I was 10 we moved to the south suburbs. It was a new subdivision, still being built. There were a handful of houses and a lot of empty lots. There was one person close to my age, she was a year and a half older. Luckily, she lived next door. Each house had a tree in the middle of the front lot by the street. They were about a foot tall. We didn't burn leaves.
As a mom, fall was a time for crafting, baking, fall festivals and weekends on outings. There were Covered Bridge festivals, Harvest Moon festivals, trips to the Amish community to buy apple butter and trips just to see the color of the leaves. And football.
When I later moved back to the city, fall became a series of weekend walks. Walks along the lakefront from North Avenue Beach to Navy Pier, beaches mostly deserted, the sound of the waves and sometimes water in your face. Walks in Old Town. Walks downtown away from the shopping areas. Printers row, Daley Plaza.
Now I'm living in the south. Fall is different here. The leaves don't change color gradually. They fall from the tree and turn brown and raking them in 87 degree weather isn't fun. There are no sweaters and scarves and no festivals. I still craft and bake, but I do it with the AC on. I still drink apple cider on the porch, only now its cold and in a glass, not from a steaming mug. I still buy apple butter, but I get it from Cracker Barrel. I still decorate the porch and inside of the house with pumpkins and leaves and scarecrows, but its not the same. Its like missing an old friend.
As a mom, fall was a time for crafting, baking, fall festivals and weekends on outings. There were Covered Bridge festivals, Harvest Moon festivals, trips to the Amish community to buy apple butter and trips just to see the color of the leaves. And football.
When I later moved back to the city, fall became a series of weekend walks. Walks along the lakefront from North Avenue Beach to Navy Pier, beaches mostly deserted, the sound of the waves and sometimes water in your face. Walks in Old Town. Walks downtown away from the shopping areas. Printers row, Daley Plaza.
Now I'm living in the south. Fall is different here. The leaves don't change color gradually. They fall from the tree and turn brown and raking them in 87 degree weather isn't fun. There are no sweaters and scarves and no festivals. I still craft and bake, but I do it with the AC on. I still drink apple cider on the porch, only now its cold and in a glass, not from a steaming mug. I still buy apple butter, but I get it from Cracker Barrel. I still decorate the porch and inside of the house with pumpkins and leaves and scarecrows, but its not the same. Its like missing an old friend.
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