Ugh. Fall.
Such a meandering, dreadful, suspenseful time of year. Waiting with baited breath for the moment when it’d all start to go wrong, when the winter would peel in and sever summer once and for all, for a while.
The children get hit hardest by it, bless their simple little selfish heads. The least to worry about of us all, but still they groan and grumble at the back-to-school sales – the notebooks, the backpacks, the guywires and tethers. Little idiots don’t realize yet that these are the best days to be alive. All summer to be free and fancy as they please before they have to deal with fall, or rather, others deal with it for them. Ah well, aren’t we all that selfish at heart, just better-hidden? How much of the innocence of children is simple shamelessness?
Fall’s getting closer.
Everyone’s got a checklist, the hard part is getting them done when the right times are obvious. Of COURSE it’s sensible to go early for rakes; that’s why the mall’s a hellish swarm in August. Of COURSE it’s smart to pick up leaf bags at the same time; that’s why they’re all sold out. And of COURSE you make a nice tidy list of everyone to leave emergency contacts with and check in with them in the last week, which is why the phone lines are overflowing with tearful goodbyes and just-in-cases and I-promise-I-love-yous.
Frustrating but understandable. Planned-for-frustrations. The prisoner’s dilemma and everyone makes the same moves at the same time and everything clogs. What’s a seasonal event without a seasonal stress? It adds spice, it’s true. Even if the spice is pure bitter almond.
Fall’s getting closer.
It’s that common purpose, that strange common purpose that arises from shared hardship. Universal yet delicate. It brings friendly nods and casual judgments as you all walk around doing the same chores the same tasks the same plans. “Oh, hello there.” “Hi.” And then in the wake of that, the thoughts.
Hmm, doesn’t look like they’ve shored up the foundations yet. Hmm. Have they really done a good enough job of chopping down the big trees? Wellll…. That’s good enough, I suppose, but is ‘good enough’ the kind of diligence I want in a neighbor, is it what I admire? At least I did MY best, nobody could say otherwise. Could they? Did I? Are they looking at me the way I look at them?
…And other such human neuroses. Social animals, what are you going to do about it? Suffer, but in a friendly way.
Fall’s almost here.
The sirens are ringing on the dawn of the day. The flags fly briefly, then are quickly taken down along with the poles. A celebratory cake is served for good luck and eaten in haste. The gutters are triple-checked – were they cleaned? Will they hold fast? The panic rooms are inspected for the last time – are they padded well enough? Will the ceiling stand the stress?
The last of the pumpkins are harvested; the rest will simply become squash. The corn came in long ago and the farmers have abandoned their fields for the deepest, strongest shelters they can dig into that fertile soil.
Fall’s about to come.
All around the block people are gathering leaves, hanging horseshoes, whispering prayers, hugging loved ones goodbye and tending to wills. Just in case. You can’t be too careful in fall. No amount of preparation is too much, no obsession too stifling. Every hand is needed and every thought is demanded and hurry up hurry up hurry up THE CLOCK IS TICKING.
Lash on that last bit of extra padding. Cross any extra fingers you’ve got. And for god’s sake take a big breath.
Fall’s here.
DOWN come the leaves.
DOWN come the trees.
DOWN come the walls.
And the dam bursts and DOWN go the streams into the earth; DOWN topple the steeples, bells tolling into the dirt; DOWN fall the radio towers, collapsing tidily on prehinged joints; DOWN go the birds, little lead airborne weights aiming for soft spots on a hard world (stack your leaves carefully!); DOWN come the clouds sucked like reverse silly string; DOWN DOWN DOWN DOWN and up up up above the town comes the roaring avalanche of an entire mountain range sinking another six inches into continental crust.
Thirty-one seconds of that and then the weight comes off everyone’s chests and they can breathe again.
Take an hour or two to do just that. It’s good to breathe. Soon the winter walls will need to be constructed, but for now? Breathe.
Ugh. Fall.
At least THAT was over.
But really, spring was going to be a nightmare this year.