There is a season

Over the last couple years I've missed the seasons, at least the ones I grew up on. In West Africa, we had the big rains, the small rains, harmattan, and dry season. But truth be told, they were all pretty similar, hot and humid, or maybe hotter and a bit less humid. And the sunrise and sunset never really changed much. One astronomer tried to explain to me that even on the equator the length of the days change due to the eliptical orbit of the earth around the sun. That may be, but from a practical standpoint it's 0600 sunrise, 1800 sunset, year around.

Today, in my California home, we are having fall, at least our version on it. After some really hot days in August, 100F + afternoons, then some cooler days, kind of a teaser, then in mid September another really hot week, our indian summer, now it's back to a cool and breezy afternoon. The light is weaker and the sunset sooner and it feels like Halloween.

The Buckeye tree has lost all it's leaves and the fruit are hanging down. The acorns have been hitting Wayne's shed for a couple weeks, but this year not so many. They do hit with a bang however, like a kid throwing rocks against a fence.

I think it will take a full cycle to get myself back into synch. I look forward to the rain and then the greening of the hills and the rush into summer. That's the northern California year that I grew up in, I guess it's in my bones. After all that I hope to feel like I'm back home.