The Eminence of Fall

I am not the only person who has been noticing this. Yesterday evening my room mate commented that it seemed like it was getting cooler and seemed like fall. Today I was surfing and I overheard someone say that the ocean reminded him of fall. I have been noticing for the last two weeks that fall is coming is a hurry.


Devereaux Point, Goleta, CA, November 2006.

There is something veritably different about fall in Southern California that we don't tend to see in other seasons or regions. The light grows pale earlier, and the angle of the sun changes to just a bit farther South, leaving a glow that is more amber than white and changing the shadows from buildings and trees. The direction of the wind changes from Southerly to Northerly, causing a bump on the ocean starting around 11 AM that is distinctive to that of summer. Then there's the fires. The smell of a fire burning in nature makes me think of starting school, Halloween, my birthday, and the great waves that come along every October.

People often say they don't like California because you don't get a change is seasons. Granted, we don't get leaves falling like clockwork, or snow on the ground, or birds suddenly chirping, but if you have your ear on the ground and your eyes open, you will notice fall coming. The change comes slowly and within nature's own timeframe. It's in no rush to become cold or hot.

Leave that winter coat in the closet, it's still in the seventies. You won't need a thick wetsuit yet, or a stock of eggnog, or a snow plow. I am just trying to enjoy it. I like to think of it was a different shade of sunglasses, courtesy of Mother Nature.