Autumn

I love living in the tropics, but if there is one thing I regret about moving to Tortola, it's the fact that there is no autumn there.

Thankfully, my work permit processing necessitated that I leave the BVI, just in time to catch the tail end of autumn in Colorado, my first since 2008.

I love the fall here.

The leaves may not change to the deep crimsons and oranges like the maples and oaks back east, but there is no replacing the deep Colorado blue sky to offset the gold of the aspen and the pale yellow-green of the cottonwood.

I love the way autumn in Colorado evades definition. There is no classic Colorado fall. It can be cut short in mid-September by a heavy, wet snowfall, or it can linger into November, as it seems to be doing this year. Often the days of fall are still warm, with temperatures in the mid-70s, as they were, memorably so for me, the first week of October in 2006.

I love that on October 27th, my mother's marigolds are still in full bloom

but her pampas grass is brown and ready to be scythed for winter.

As much as I want to be back on Great Mountain with HB and the dogs right now, I'm simultaneously grateful to be in Colorado for the fall.