September 22, 2008 Perfect weather

Berberville gets its share of cloudy days – yesterday was one – but most of the time, we’ve been having radiant blue skies, interrupted by an hour or three of rain in mid-afternoon. Today was absolutely perfect fall weather – appropriate for the autumnal equinox, come to think of it. The warm sun baked down on us, but the breezes blew cool – almost chilly – air in sporadic puffs and gusts. The air tasted like winter, and the smell wafting from the orchards put visions of apple cider dancing in my head. Under my flannel shirt and long-sleeved teeshirt, I was comfortable without being warm. The sky shimmered with that electric blue that makes me believe that UV rays are visible. When I was younger I called it “Massachusetts blue”, because it was the color I saw behind red maple leaves in a New England autumn, but I now know that it’s the color of autumn sky all around the planet.

I can never decide whether fall or winter is my favorite season; I love them both for different reasons. And I fall in love with spring every time it springs upon me, but that’s just a passing infatuation; my true love is the cold that puts apples in my cheeks and a sparkle in my eye, that I can taste on the back of my tongue and celebrate from behind flannels and steaming mugs of hot sugary beverages.

Hot sugary beverage count for today: 8. In my defense, the cups here are *really* small. But yeah, that’s a lot of hot beverages. Chai this morning (one packet spread over two cupfuls), hot milk at l-fdrt (three cups), and tea at Ama’s house (three cups).