I’ve Fallen In Love With the Colors of Fall

I went for a wog this morning (half walk / half jog) and the best part about it (besides finding out that No Speak Americano is an excellent jogging song) was the fact that I was wogging (ha!) in the most beautiful garden that I’ve ever seen. I don’t care what anyone says, the English Garden in autumn is the most wonderful sight. I wish that descriptive imagery came easily to me. I’ve contemplated numerous times how I might explain to you what I’m seeing here as the season changes into a blustery, perfect wonderland of falling leaves and subdued skies. I know, I know. I speak as if I’ve never seen fall before but unless you’ve lived on the coast of California anytime between early September and late November, you’ll understand my fascination. Seasons don’t change where I come from.

Monterey is a beautiful place, one of a kind, with beautiful beaches and remarkable sunsets on ocean horizons. But there are approximately two seasons in Monterey – fog season and sun season and they run parallel to each other all year long. Summer can often feel like fall and sometimes winter even has a bit of summer in it’s bones. The fog rarely lifts. October and November typically see some of the warmest weather and December through March it just rains and rains and rains… every day, all day.

Growing up in western Montana, I experienced the four seasons and fall was always my favorite. When I moved to California, I didn’t get to have fall anymore. I didn’t think much of it though because I was in California. I didn’t realize how sad missing fall made me feel until I came here and was able to experience it again. It’s true what they say - you don’t realize how much you love something until you’ve been away from it for a while.

I love the smell of fall, the smell of leaves and earth. I love the leaves on the ground, the sound of them crunching beneath your feet. The colors are more vibrant than you could ever imagine – gold, green, yellow, orange, deep red, crimson, goldenrod, russet. Fall makes me feel nostalgic for my childhood – for Halloween nights spent trick or treating, Thanksgiving holidays, scarves and mittens and warm jackets. My favorite part about being here in Munich this fall is watching the leaves as they fall from the trees. Even the gentlest breeze can take the leaves away from their naked branches and when they fall, it’s the most serene sight. And the sound! It should be on a noise maker machine. I can’t really explain it. I wish it were possible.

For the latter half of the afternoon, I spent another handful of hours in the English Gardens (my third time that day – I went for a walk again in the afternoon) but this time I was on a bike ride with Brittany and her au pair family (who, at the moment, I love a little more than my own). The morning started out very cold and dreary but by 2 o’clock, the sun had come out and it was blue skies for miles. We took advantage of the gorgeous fall day and Brittany and I, her host-mom, and the two girls, Lena and Fanny, all went on a bike ride to the Isar river and enjoyed the fall afternoon.

These are the pictures that I’ve collected over the last week or so and as the days go by, Munich is plunged deeper and deeper into the season. I’m going to be really sad when winter takes over… or maybe not because then I’ll have beautiful pictures of the snow. If I can stand walking around in the cold. Anyhoo, here are my favorite pictures. More below the cut. :)

   

ALL PHOTOS BELONG TO ME AND ARE MINE.
Danke schon.