It is officially autumn. The autumnal equinox, when the sun is directly above the equator and the length of day and night are nearly equal, occurred last night. Around 10:09 pm. I sat on the deck with a Samuel Adams Octoberfest in hand, KMUW’s jazz cafe streaming through the outdoor speakers, and watched the red-gray clouds pass swiftly over the growing moon. Welcome, dear friend. Please, stay awhile.

I love fall. The subtle, sometimes swift changes in the air, from humid and heavy to a morning crispness and an evening chill. The bloom of color. Red. Orange. Yellow. Even brown. How the sun falters a little earlier each day.

I recall the crunch of leaves under my feet. The smell of burning wood. Pinon. Wine cider. The comforting weight of a jacket or sweater. My feet surrounded in warmth. I want to lose myself in a red-gold-orange forest. Curl up at the base of a sleeping tree and read. Drink Malbec in an oversized goblet and toast the coming of winter.

And watch football. But that’s tomorrow’s post.

Today is all about this blanket of serenity that is the coming of autumn. For me, there is no other season like it. I even created a CD last night. 15 songs all about autumn: Autumn leaves (French version by Nat King Cole); Autumn in New York by Billie Holiday; October Road by James Taylor; and the ultimate classic, 10-minute rendition of Autumn Leaves by Cannonball Adderley and Miles Davis.

Ah, sweet autumn tunes. A soundtrack for the best season of them all.

“Autumn burned brightly, a running flame through the mountains, a torch flung to the trees.”                  –Faith Baldwin