Fall is Close, We Will All Be Spending More Time Indoors At Home Now
Summer is fading away, and we will all notice it in different ways
Today, I saw my first house already decorated for Halloween! They had pumpkins everywhere, a big Happy Halloween sign, festive balloons, and colorful witch’s pointy hats dangling from their balcony. We Americans love our holidays, and Halloween is the next big one coming up.
We are rapidly approaching the official start of autumn, on September 22 this year, so it’s less than two weeks to go! Are you looking forward to it too?
We are already starting the walk over onto the bridge of autumn, linking summer and winter in the grand and inexorable transition between seasons.
Depending on where you live, we will all be spending more time indoors in our houses now. Gone are the carefree days of summer, when we were all able to live that blessed inside/outside lifestyle balance of living.
Where we could just rush outside without thinking about the weather, and then pass back through our houses as need be.
Personally, I love that part of the summer, but I also thoroughly enjoy spending more time indoors. Nobody in SF has A/C because most of the year we never need it.
My house is also my refuge from the social unrest we all have to deal with in the crazy world outside.
Homeless people panhandling, couples arguing and putting their business in the street and the occasional loser thugs trying to take what they want, blind to the consequences of force and violence.
My house is my island of sanity in an ocean of chaos. Everything is arranged just so, and I can walk through it in the dark without breaking my neck. I can relax and just be myself.
Inside, I have access to all the amenities of life in the 21st century. I love watching sports on the weekends, sitting at my desk composing stories, and rustling up something for dinner when I’m hungry.
I can watch TV and catch up on the news, but that is often boring and the way the networks are set up, both parties have their propaganda machines going full speed ahead all the time. Some people never watch the news, and maybe they are the smarter ones.
Fox to me is the worst TV news channel because they openly deal in lies and mistruths. MSNBC is more aligned with my Independent views, but they are sometimes too progressive and strident. CNN is more evenly balanced, so I watch them most of the time.
I live right in the middle of the concrete jungle, so close that people sometimes touch my window as they pass. I always hear them talking, fighting, and/or being happy.
So I need the ambient “white noise” from the TV to drown out all the chatter and clatter from people noisily trekking by on the sidewalks.
The fall is my second favorite season, and I am in no hurry to rush through it. We should all live life one day at a time anyway because there is always joy to be found if we just go with the flow.
The way Autumn unwinds in its long, winding decorous way, its stately progression complete with the falling leaves and the shorter days is breathtaking.
It all leads to the inevitable end of the bridge that leads us right up to the icy doors of winter.
Once winter arrives, we will all be in lockdown mode and only able to leave for work, school, or emergencies. But I treasure my house year-round.
To be more accurate, I live in an apartment complex, not an actual house of brick and mortar, and my apartment is right next to the street. But I don’t need that stately mansion with a tear in every room.
Because home is where the heart is, and my simple one-bedroom apartment is the one place I can relax and unwind. It has everything I need, a state of mind, a safe place, a refuge where I can just be myself.
It is a psychological safety net, an emotional sanctuary, a safe haven in a world gone mad. I treasure it deeply. Home is where I go for shelter from the storm of life when I need it the most.
Whatever the season, whatever the reason, savor the joy. We are all connected…