Fall in Oregon is a most wonderous time. Especially when the sky is clear and the air is brisk. We Oregonians are the first to deny the rain as being depressing. "Oh, it clears the pollution from the air," we say. Or "I love the rain." But the fact of the matter is the constant gray gets dreary and that is why these beautiful clear fall days are so precious.
Even after a few days of rain....you know, that rain that clears the sky...it is amazing how the sun and blue sky can brighten your attitude. I love it. The leaves even get crunchy again, so when you shuffle along kicking them up, they make it sound like you're walking on corn flakes. That always makes me smile. The air seems fresher. Mt. Hood looms larger. The leaves on the trees of the West Hills are sharper. And the colors - orange, red, yellow, purple, brown, tan - all of those wonderful colors on the red end of the spectrum are simply spectacular.
Fall isn't the beginning of the death of summer, it is the beginning of the rebirth that eventually takes place in Spring.
I watched a neighbor as he raked and bagged leaves and commented to him that it's the beauty and the ugly of Fall. The beauty of the colors of the leaves and the ugly that we have to go to such efforts to pick up after Fall. Too bad the leaves don't just stay in the trees for us to enjoy. A silly idea but one to consider as we rake and bag and fill our yard debris containers.
