i spent some time in DC this weekend, visiting a friend. i was only there for twenty-four hours, but in that time i think mother nature went from early autumn to mid-winter. there was a ginko tree outside the room i slept in; when i arrived i remarked about its green-ness. DC is not that far from southern pennsylvania, but it seems to be a world away as far as the weather goes. i haven't seen a green tree here in a couple of weeks. later that night, after we had all consumed nearly a pound of cheese and salami, polished off a delicious pizza, indulged in gooey chocolate cake and taken in the bela fleck/brooklyn rider show, i was nestled snuggly beneath two heavy wool blankets and a sleeping bag as the wind howled through the rowhouses. when the first rays of sun came shining in, they seemed to have to work hard against the wind just to make it in the window. the ginko was still intact, but i thought it would be denuded of leaves by sunset. i watched for a moment as leaves tumbled off as though someone were dumping them out of baskets. i revised my estimate. they would be off by mid-day.
this is how i feel the pace has been through the entire year. i feel like i just unpacked from being at the lake and all of the sudden i am humming along to christmas carols and looking forward to making the gravy for thanksgiving dinner. i'm looking forward to turning the calendar to a new year. this one has been trying at times, and while i've learned a lot, it was an education i wasn't planning for. i have gotten to spend a lot of time with my friends, which has been the highlight of my year. i'm lucky they all came to support me when things went awry. but still, i feel like the transition from week to week and month to month, season to season has been lost a bit. i spent so much time looking out the window at bare trees against a grey sky and now they're back again.
green leaves to bare branches. they had all fallen by the end of brunch.
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