Fall as I remember it
We have been having a bit of weather here.
It’s been like a roller coaster. The first day of Autumn hit with temps hitting 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Usually in SoCal no matter how warm it gets during the day it’s going to cool off after dark. Not last week. It would “cool off” to the high 90’s overnight. Now I am lucky in that my apartment faces north and into another building. Which means although I don’t get the view that a higher floor or a street-facing apartment would get, I also don’t get the direct sunlight and the direct heat gain. I also have central AC, which helps, even if for the most part I do not need to turn it on.
Snow in Los Angeles? It has happened.
Now we are having the opposite. Yesterday the 12th I awoke to temps in the low 60’s, and a high of 65. Which will swing back to the 90’s by the end of the week before finally, it’s to be hoped, settling into actual fall.
Fall is, perhaps, my favorite time of the year and the one season I miss about New England. The crisp air, the leaves turning, that chill that tells the ancient reptilian part of one’s brain to either migrate south or start storing supplies for the long winter to come. I love wearing sweaters and scarves and coats that are there as much to feel delicious as to keep you warm: they aren’t the bulky items that you need in a New England (or midwestern, which are far harsher) winter. Those are there to keep you alive. A bulwark against freezing. Fall coats are as much, for me, a fashion choice as they are a protection. 60 degrees ain’t gonna kill you, but it is an excuse to pull out the Harris Tweed and the cashmere blends, if the moths haven’t consumed them.
Winter in Santa Barbara
I can still remember having a rare moment of clarity driving to classes at Amherst one morning (through the five college exchange I took classes at Smith and Amherst even though I attended UMass) with the top down on my FIAT spider, classical station and heater on blast, dropping down the hill on Elm street with the view of Mount Tom incarnadined with fall foliage and thinking how really lucky I was to be born there.
Fall on Carmelita Ave. (and my old car)
Now our fall in my neighborhood comes around January, and thanks to Beverly Hills planting one kind of tree on each street the fall foliage is neatly contained by a few blocks of Alden Drive in my “industrial triangle” or on Carmelita in the tonier blocks above. Not that I am complaining: I prefer a bit of fall and skipping the rest of the winter stuff. If I want that I can go to Big Bear, certain in the knowledge that the comfort and safety (not to mention warmth) of Palm Springs is right down the mountain.
Peachy keen..
So what do you wear when the weather is changeable? I grabbed Guerlain Samsara today. Not out of any real thought- the bottle was just there. It a green, leafy (thankfully muted) peach scent, heavy on the sandalwood. Perfect for a day like today, which started off chilly but is going to warm up considerably as the rains that pounded Long Beach’s shores move eastward. If Guerlinade is your bête noire then this isn’t for you, since a lot of those notes are thoroughgoing. I happen to love that about it. It’s like a warm scarf on a chilly day. It is also fairly inexpensive at discounters, which is where I bought mine. You can get samples of both the EDT and the EDP from Surrender to Chance.
Is the weather turning colder where you are? I know Portia is swinging into spring. What are you wearing? Lets discuss in the comments.
Photos: My iPhone, Pexels, Wikimedia Commons.