Snippitts of Illusions

Linder King of Fall.

Fall is in the air.
It's a good thing too, tomorrow is the first day of fall.

I personally love the fall, it's by far and away my favorite season of the seasons. I lament that we normally only get something of a truncated version of it most years. It stays warm till the early part of October, we have a couple weeks of pleasant fall temperatures, and then it scuttles away to miserable cold with the occasional tolerable day. OR, it stays miserably warm till near the end of October and from there we end up in a slippery slope of cold and wet that lasts till mid-April. OR we get a sudden drop in temperature and stay with the cruel chill of pre-winter until the first snow storm. Or we end up like last year, where fall never really seemed to give into winter (at least here in the Basin) until well after December, but never really felt like fall.

This year's looking good. It's cooled off quite a bit, but isn't cold yet. Almost jacket weather I dare say, at least at night. In fact there are those who are not as robust in girth as I am, or as hot-blooded and obstinate as me who have already dug their jackets out. The days are warm, but not hot, just enough to be comfortable and a few hours toil (what's that) in the sun doesn't leave one dehydrated and sun-stroked. The leaves are turning to the fall colors, but not at an alarming rate, just enough to let you know what's coming.

Fall is the time of year I feel like walking, taking leisurely strolls out and about and enjoying the weather. I do get that notion in Spring, but not as often. Fall is also the time I want to fall (no pun intended) into other worlds. Whether novels, short stories, or something of my own imagining I always felt that this season allowed the minds imaginations to bubble up to the surface much easier than any of the others. The veil is thin as they say.

I imagine the seasons as anthropomorphized entities. Fall was a tall man, thick with muscles, and a tiny bit of plumpness from the summers bounty. He wore long brown robes, trousers and thick sturdy boots of oiled leather. His hair and beard were a tangle of chaos, long and unkempt. His eyes gentle, with a bit of longing in his face, as if there's a spark of sadness for the loss of summer and the coming of winter. He would stroll quietly through forest trails and around lake-sides speaking with the animals there, getting their thoughts on the coming season and accessing their thoughts about the season that had just passed.

I think I was probably influenced by Radagast the Brown from The Fellowship of the Ring. His brief mention, and the his function amoungst the other wizards of that world had a certain fascination for me. I also can't help but think I was also influenced by the druid of Celtic legends and history, and even by Belgararth from David Eddings (I read the Belgariad in the fall).

I shirked some of the traditional ideas of the seasons. Winter was a woman, probably influenced from The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. Spring was a man, not sure where that came from. Summer a woman as well. I'll talk about each of them later.

Right now it's time for fall.

posted by F.G. Shaw @ 3:31 PM