Friday, October 30, 2009

Autumn in San Francisco










It is October 31st--the end of the month. It is. It is Halloween. It is the night we turn the clocks back. It is officially fall. I love fall--it is the time of year I was born which may predispose me to having a certain feeling when the crispness hits the air. Though of course in SF it was 70 degrees today and absolutely beautiful. But the leaves, some leaves, do change here. NOTHING like the east coast of course, where I grew up, which has such a distinct smell, taste and feel and always seems to evoke such strong sensory responses. trick or treating, fear of nair sprayed in our hair, macintosh apples --you really cannot get mac apples in No Cal that have the same taste.
The places here that I feel fall are (1) my backyard and our fish pond (2) the sculpture garden at Golden Gate Park (3) the pop-up pumpkin patch on 7th avenue and (4) the ice plants out at ocean beach and the beautiful hues they take on as they play off the sand and sky.
And pumpkins of course and halloween candy which I quietly raid after the kids go to bed--though the plastic pumpkins do stay up on top of our fridge year round--gently warming all the left over candy that no one really wanted--

I do love a good orange though--and the rough hewn reds and greens that I use on my plates...