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Covaan_Meshuga -> RE: "What's your favorite thing about fall/autumn?" (9/22/2008 2:55:55 AM)
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The last autumn of Minneapolis that I saw was that of 1982. Fall there was ever outstanding, ever amazing, ever memorable. The colors of the season were incredible, the large leaves from both ancient and newer trees covered the many parks and were reflected in the innumerable lakes.
Autumn was apple season, and we would always go into the country for a day, seeking some farm that was willing to sell us a few, whether in Minnesota or Wisconsin. Some of the farms sold apples that would never have gotten to market -- apples that would make a complete lunch, all by themselves, for an adult with two children. Huge apples, almost the size of a medium pumpkin, yet they were outstanding in both flavor and texture.
The last Minneapolis autumn I was privileged to have with my first husband included a most wonderful day in a park in Bloomington. Our daughter was barely age five, and our son not quite two. He walked down the leaf-covered wooden stairs from the upper area of the park to the lower, holding our daughters hand in his. I carried our son in the backpack on my back and followed. We explored the dry stream with the small wooden bridge over it, then followed the path back into the park. Our daughter picked a long, sectioned weed we called "Indian Toy," which would rattle lightly when shaken. We eventually found a grassy area, where we let the children play beside a shallow stream there.
Just a few months later, after he was killed, the children and I returned there, just to remember. It was summer then, and we lay in the grass, dropping miniature daisies in the stream in his memory. We were delighted when, somewhere down the stream, we heard someone giggle and exclaim with delight as the little flowers floated by them. Perfect. he would have liked that.
When autumn returned that year, I returned with the children and a young friend. We found a secluded place, where the children played as we sat in the grass. She played her flute, and I played my guitar.
And I remembered.
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