Change seems to be the byword these days, news of all sorts about the crisis have been more sobering of late while Wall Street is short of having a meltdown. There's enough chaos out there in the financial world, a mayhem that makes everyone jittery and since we don't have much control over that, let's not worry so much about it and let's just talk about our favorite universal topic: the weather. For sure, I can't mess this one up or I hope not to!Autumn is in the air. It felt crisp and invigorating the last couple of days as I did my morning walk. When sweaters start getting yanked out of the closet we know that summer is on its way out. Worry not, early signs of autumn are a harbinger of more wonderful things to come.
Leaves will be turning their red, copper or yellow colors and soon it'll be time to take that road trip to watch nature boast its masterpiece of brilliant foliage. Some of the best sceneries and my favorites are the winding local routes in Litchfield, Connecticut ending up in Worchester, Mass.. It's a spectacular festival of colors surrounding beautiful country homes along the way. A jug of apple cider and some fall harvest treats usually fill up a basket for us to take home.
It'll still be a while before the summer plants shut-down for the season, some of the birds will hang around for sometime until it's cold enough to move on and the Greenmarkets will still bring the best harvest from their farms before the freeze. And my hairy friend the squirrel will stick around for as long as it can with the dropping temperatures, or will it hibernate? I don't know.
I love going to the Greenmarket at Union Square, my best picks are the Pennsyvania "broken pretzels" ( a bag of which you can fetch for a buck and taste as good as the unbroken ones) and the "bubble gum cheese" from the Amish farmers. I don't know if Marge just coined the term for the marble-sized balls of white farmer's cheese that look like they just rolled out of a gumball machine, but they sure are a fun thing to snack on. She used to bring us a bag of this cheese curds on her way from her subway stop at the Square for us to chow down while working at Bellevue. Good old days.
Some of the good wines are produced in the vineyards in North Fork on Long Island. Aha! I remember that trip to Cutchogue to the Pugliese Vineyard. I think I still have the calendar of his best shots of Lighthouses. Wendy got a kick out of that; she thought it was a serious crush, when actually, I just admired his photography which he published as a calendar. We met him at the autumn County Fair where he was selling his artwork and of course we later found out his family owns the vineyard. Poor Ralph. I don't even drink wine, so where is the connection, Wendy? Mother Pugliese would've had a heart attack. Oh, that happened eons ago. Will have to plan on some vineyard hopping this fall, that's always fun. This time I'll be the one to take photographs, ha ha ha!
Many of the birds have definitely gone to their winter retreats. Do you ever wonder about those migratory birds? They are lucky they can just fly out to the other side of the globe without having to worry about sky-high airfares, cancelled flights, lost luggage or lack of legroom while in flight. Do they also suffer from "jet lag"? Silly me.
It was about 54 degrees when I strolled around this morning. I can only wish for this cool weather to stay all year but that would be a miracle. Change is about to happen and that's what makes the four seasons interesting. Hopefully we won't have to deal with a harsh winter, but if we do we'll just have to live with it. Okay, okay, maybe I'm too old to move out and change!
Right now, it's sunny and cool and I'm just lovin' it! Hot apple cider and a book to read - let's seize the day.
