Finding Joy in This Fall

DUKES FANS I am jealous of two sets of friends today. One set got back from the Adirondacks last week, and one just got back from New Hampshire. And they both told me how great it was seeing Fall in all of its brightness and glory. I am jealous because Fall here in the Philadelphia area has been a tad subdued-drab. I have visited some of my favorite trees already this Fall, and they are not the spectacular reds, oranges, and yellows that had been so magnificently dancing with each other just a few years before. Coming up from the Richard Allen Lane train station, I was usually greeted by two tall widespread trees on Cresheim Valley Road that were a joyous mix of colors reaching for the sky. On Mt Pleasant Ave there is a bush in the 100 block which, when I look at it from the bottom of the little hill at Mt Pleasant and Germantown Ave, looked like a flaming red fire in the middle of the block. Both of these trees have shown a little red, but they are both much, much 'quieter' than they have been in the past. As the leaves have started falling, there is little chance of the appearing in their previous glory. I have noticed several trees on Germantown Ave near Mt Pleasant that have some good reds on parts of the trees, and that is good to see. But it has been somewhat of a disappointing fall for tree lovers in this region. The skies of the past couple of weeks, though, have been absolutely gorgeous. I did not get to see the Northern Lights earlier this week as I live in the city, but the moon, clouds, and skies of the past week have all been breathtaking. The cumulus clouds have been bright white, thick, and numerous, clumped together and/or stretching out in all sorts of wonderful shapes. It has been clear, so the clear, deep blueness of the sky has been almost sparkling in its brightness and depth. And the moon has been going through several phases, from quarter to almost full. And when I travel up or down Mt Airy Ave, I see bees and butterflies getting nectar from the flowers in the gardens in front of so many houses. My walking early in the morning, then, has been a true pleasure, and looking up has been marvelous. It has not failed to bring smiles. So it will be a "whisper" of a fall instead of the expected "shout." Some of the things that I have gotten used to and come to expect are not happening as I wanted them to, but there are also new and other plweasures to behold. I hope you are all able to find your own joys this season.