Fall - Photo Set 1 of 6 - Leaves

Fall has always been my favorite time of year.  Fall is all about the senses: the colors of the sunsets and the changing leaves, the feel of the cool evening air and a warm jacket, the taste of good, home cooking, and the sound of crunching leaves or migrating birds all make fall amazing for me.  But, of all the reasons, the smell of fall is what pushes this one over the top and makes it my favorite time of year.  I love good smells: the smell of clean skin or a fresh rose, the smell of a baby's hair, and the smell of cookies or bread baking; These are a few of my favorite things. 

I also love how closely the sense of smell is associated with memory.  The other day I was walking around the block, taking great, deep breaths of crisp air when a memory slowly came to mind of a small apartment complex I lived in with my mom and next oldest brother.  Our back door opened to a grassy area with a wide creek running through the middle of it.  Along the sides of the creek were maple trees.  Lots of them.  Suddenly I was there again, standing next to the creek, watching my mom's cousin lasso my tricycle and pull it out of the water.  A short time earlier, I had been riding it on the small patio behind our apartment.  When I ventured onto the grass, the gradual slope of the hill took me quickly toward the creek.  Fortunately, I jumped off just before my tricycle tumbled into the cold, fast-moving water.  I hadn't thought about that experience for years. 

Today has been kind of a hard day.  Sometimes I think too much.  Sometimes I don't do enough.  Sometimes I feel like I'm being pulled down a gradual hill, faster, faster, faster, toward a wide, cold, fast moving place that I don't want to be.

I'm much too young for a midlife crisis, but I wonder if this is what it feels like.  Should I jump?  Can I jump?  How bad will jumping hurt compared to going in the drink? 

All of a sudden I have the words to an old song by The Clash going through my head.  "Should I stay or should I go?  If I stay it will be trouble.  If I go it will be double. 

"So come on and let me know . . . Should I cool it or should I blow?"

While you think about that, here are a couple other photos of fall colors to enjoy.  I can't give you the smells that go along with the photos, but if you know the song above, you should at least have a little tune running around in your head.

This was on a narrow, two lane, but very busy road in the mountains.  We were driving slow and cars were piling up behind us.  Nancy was driving so I could hang my camera out the window and shoot.  We pulled over for a second at a wide spot in the road and I looked back to see this lone orange/red maple, lit up perfectly in the afternoon sun. 

This was on the same drive, near the top of the pass.  What an amazing view of the back of the mountain.  Photos rarely do a scene like this justice.  If I had a panorama camera about 5 frames wide and 3 tall, you might get a little feel for what this view was like.

How about you?  What's your favorite Season?  What's your favorite Sense?  What's your midlife crisis going to be like?

Clark