Fall
Pump House
Of all the seasons, I think Fall is my favorite. It’s not that I am completely down on the other seasons, I’m just not a fan.
Growing up in South Dakota made me very appreciative of the impact and severity of winters, not just for SoDak winters, but winters everywhere. Starting about now South Dakotans will be bundling up getting ready for the bitterly cold, piercing winds lessened only by 6 foot high snow drifts. No…I am not a winter person.
Spring is nice…except for pollen. I am very negatively impacted by pollen, alternately stuffing up like a Thanksgiving turkey or leaking like the Niagara Falls. I walk outside in April and May and everything is coated in yellow like corn bread flower. The tissue companies love me and all the other folks that leak like sieves during this season. So, no, not a spring person either.
Summer, well, summer I am on the fence. I dislike heat every bit as much as I dislike cold, every bit as much. I cannot imagine living in Arizona or Florida (for many reasons) and don’t know how they can stand the physical oppression of the temperature…except, there’s air conditioning. I like air conditioning. A lot. The transition from horrid heat to comfortable inside air conditioning is quick, easy, and, oh so refreshing. The transition from a wintry outside to a warm inside is a process of layering or unlayering, hanging or unhanging, sitting, standing…sigh. Too much. So…summer is out…not completely out, but not in the inner circle. That leaves Autumn.
Fall is my time of the year. The temps could be warm (it’s 80 today) or chilly (it was 35 three days ago). The colors are brilliant and diverse, not green, all green and more green. People seem to have more energy, the crops are in, schools have started and you can finally go outside without a transition to more clothing or a HEPA filter. So, yes, I am an Autumn person.
Many countries have more climatic and environmental regions than we do. India, for instance, has added another season, The Monsoon Season. During this season, the rains are monumental and refresh the lands and the people for the other seasons. When I studied Ragamala Art, I also discovered the Monsoon Season is when the adventuring warlords would return home to their waiting lovers and wives and nine months after the Monsoons were over, the population increased. Who knew. I digress. Yep.
The image above is from the Byrd Park Pump House which was built in the 1880s to pump water from the James River to the Byrd Park where it was processed into drinking water. The Pump House is being restored from near ruin and considerable progress has been made. I could walk around the outside, bike and runner trails abound, but could not get into the building to see the stain glass windows.