Friday, August 21, 2009

'And the leaves that are green turn to brown'

Where I am in the US is a suburb of Chicago, with quiet tree-lined streets and 2 small parks, both at a walkable distance. I have enjoyed walking through the streets and in the parks. As it's summer, the houses I pass, as also the parks are full of flowers, laid out so beautifully. I see the local squirrels and like all other Indians are astonished at their size because what we, who live near towns and cities in India, call squirrels are more like chipmunks.
That was written early during my trip here. Now it's time for me to leave--tomorrow. Labor Day is over, the official signalling of the end of summer. The outdoor pool here at the apartment is closed from today (summer's over!). Though Labor Day was warm and bright, Fall is in the air. The trees outside on this street are slowly getting dressed in their fall colours--these are golden. I have already passed a beautifully red tree, somewhere in town and others turn to rust.
Autumn is a time of nostalgia I am told. So it must be fall that fills my heart--at the thought of leaving my new little granddaughter and son and wife, at the thought of the end of my holiday--a complete detach from my everyday life, at the thought too that soon all this greenery and flowers will be gone (an idea so incomprehensible to me, who comes from a sub-equatorial place!).
But then every season has it's beauty and maybe I will get to see the beauty of fall and of winter one day.