October First

Today being an overcast and autumnal Saturday, Rami and I went out early in the afternoon to snap some photos. We walked to the harbor, had a quick lunch at Kasino (where they were serving a lot of pork -- my stomach cannot tolerate carbohydrates at the moment, so I had to forgo the potatoes), and headed to the fortress, where fall is not quite yet at its peak.

When we got a little chilly (it was pretty windy), we went in to have a coffee at Kahvila Majurska. There were quite a lot of tourists around. I suppose the beauty of all those deciduous trees turning colors up on the fortress hill is a draw, but it was surprising to see it just as bustling up there as it was in summertime. I should probably assume that they were there for the same reasons Rami and I were there. Fall is awesome. It's unique in that I dread its onset (since that means winter is coming, and I'm typically not eager to relinquish sunlight and warm temperatures) but when it's here, it's a time I enjoy as much as any other -- maybe more.

Maybe it's because where I'm from, autumn is sort of a, forgive me, "hallowed" time. It's the harvest. It's the time of pumpkin pie, Halloween and Thanksgiving, of lame country fairs and even lamer hayrides, corn mazes, apple cider, and freakishly large root vegetables with prize ribbons pinned on them. It's the time in which you stock up on joy and leisure before winter sucks the fun out of most things. The air is crisp and cold, yet not yet bitter. Most years, the trees are on fire with color; we're all very proud of the leaf display, yet we grumble when out-of-staters come to enjoy it and get hopelessly in our way.

Even in listing these things, there is something ineffable about what makes autumn special to us New Englanders, an I'm failing to capture it. The point, though, is that I've somehow begun to feel more at home here. The air is just as crisp and just as cool; the fallen leaves smell the same; the hot coffee tastes just as good; the leaves are more the color of rust than of fire, but that has its own seasonal charm. In some strange way, the commencement of autumn has given me a stronger connection to home. And I don't think the Finns view fall in quite such celebratory terms, but that won't stop me from enjoying it enough to account for everyone.

Looks like I got all sentimental again. I need to inject some humor into this blog. I'll work on it.