Autumn makes me think of long, warm days in coffee shops with a tinge of moisture in the air and dollops of pumpkin spice latte which are served with dainty coffee-spoons. Autumn is a feeling, a state of being, not just a season. Autumn is a way of life.
I sit with a glass of tea first, which tastes like manna from heaven, even as I watch the sun pouring in through the window with what is left of its intensity and glare. I watch dainty shots being measured out and clouds which hum with cotton candy sparkle, through windows laced with hot breaths of youngsters and urban couples cuddled together, in love, and happy as a musical instrument which provides the perfect sound.
I imagine pulling the sleeves of my sweater down over my palms and burying my chin into my fluffy scarf, feeling warm against the occasional burst of cold that follows patrons in the door. I can close my eyes and see the way my coffee, with its little leaf drawn in milk in the center, is poured all the way up to the very edge of my mug, almost spilling over but never quite doing it.
I am an autumn person. I love it when trees shed their leaves and yet, manage to be all graceful. They look as if they are born with an inner grace which can never be taken away.
It is the season where everyone falls in love, and not just with other people. It is the season where your surroundings all become a painting, something whose natural beauty you finally appreciate and understand in a way you never had before. You fall in love with the feeling of a knitted scarf against goosebumped skin. You fall in love with curling up under a blanket and holding a mug of cider with hands that just barely poke out from under the wool. You fall in love with the feeling of walking out the front door and being confronted with that clear, radiant, chilly autumn sun. You feel like the version of yourself you always love the most, the person who is not above getting excited about pumpkins or apples or decorating for Halloween. And it’s funny, too, because it is technically the season where everything is dying, and you somehow feel as though you are just now waking up