Fall in South Korea, around 1978.
The other day I was filtering through some old photographs and I came across these pictures:
This is Half Dome in Yosemite National Park.
At the time, three friends and I were attending an intensive language course at the Defense Language Institute (DLI) in Monterey, California. Two were studying Arabic. One, Russian. I was studying Korean.
Because we studied hard, we were looking forward to the Thanksgiving break, and had planned a four-day, 15-mile hike into the mountains to Merced Lake.
On the way to the lake, we wanted to climb Half Dome and take some pictures from the top.
One of the guys didn’t feel comfortable going up, so he stayed behind while the three of us went on up.
I sat on the edge for one picture and the three of us did a “selfie”. (We were ahead of our time. This was taken in 1976. 😃 I was 26 at the time.)
By the way, if you look at the picture of Half Dome (at the top of the post) and you see that rock jutting out to the left at the top of Half Dome, that’s where I sat to take that picture.
The valley floor and the river that flows through the valley is visible below.
Anyway, on the back of one of the pictures was a missive I copied off of a card I saw in a store on Monterey Bay pier. I don’t remember the source, otherwise I would credit him/her with the thought.
But it was someone’s thoughts about why he/she liked Autumn the best. It resonated with me because Fall has always been my favorite season too.
The author said:
I like Spring, but it is too young.
I like Summer but it is too proud.
So I like best of all Autumn, because its leaves are a little yellower. Its tone mellower. Its colors richer.
And it is tinged a little with sorrow.
Its golden richness speaks not of the innocence of Spring, nor of the power of Summer but of the mellowness and kindly wisdom of approaching age.
It knows the limitations of life and is content.
As I reread the missive, I thought about Monterey Bay in the Fall, the pier, and the hot apple cider and soft, warm pretzels that were such a treat at that time.
(I also wondered why the missive didn’t include Winter.)
Monterey Bay pier – 1976
The splendor of the Autumn leaves is coming alive now in Seattle. You don’t have to drive somewhere to see beautiful colors. They are all over the city and in the outlying areas too.
Actually, Fall is so beautiful everywhere in the world and is the most romantic time of the year to me.
The other day I wanted to go leaf-peeping.
The day I chose to go was a foggy day. As I drove to the area I knew to be beautiful this time of year, I was astonished to find so many white leaves on the trees. Then, the fog lifted slowly, and the colors appeared. 😁
I want to close this post with a few photos of Fall and Lisa Simone singing her cover of Autumn Leaves.
She sings it in English first and then in French.
So, scroll down through the photos and when you get to the bottom, click on the “golden Autumn Leaves” to listen to her beautiful rendition of this beautiful song.
Pumpkin patch with my granddaughter, Evie, in Everett, Washington.
Magnuson Park near Seattle.
Autumn in the countryside near Bern, the Capital of Switzerland.
The river canal running between my hotel and the Gessernalle Theater in Zurich, Switzerland.
Today I celebrate Fall and the Autumn Leaves.
(Click on Autumn Leaves, above, to hear Lisa Simone’s cover of Autumn Leaves.)
