I can’t help it: I am totally in love with autumn in New York. There’s a reason Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong sang about the thrill of it all … the smell of crisp leaves and hot apple cider, and the feeling of being at home. They sing about autumn bringing the promise of new life, a place for dreamers, and what a blessing it is to live it again.
We didn’t really ease into autumn. Summer made her abrupt exit and all of a sudden, I was unpacking wool sweaters and fleeces, eating apples nonstop, and watching the beautiful trees transform, some shedding leaves completely and others changing in an array of colors before taking their winter slumber.
I attended school in New England, one of the greatest places in the U.S. to enjoy and appreciate the changing of the leaves and the crisp damp air, signaling winter’s arrival just around the bend. While attending university, I would collect some of the largest and most beautiful leaves, and mail them to my grandparents in northern Florida. They both taught me so much about the land and the beauty and bounty of nature that I wanted them to experience the wonders all around me in Medford, Massachusetts. I knew they would never make it to Massachusetts to visit, but I wanted them to feel like they were a part of my daily life even though I was more than a thousand miles away.
This fall, I am going to make a concerted effort to observe the leaves around me. I have been moving at a breakneck pace. From the conversations I’ve had with various friends and colleagues, it seems like many of us are going at a pace that is unsustainable. Far too many of us are treading water due to hectic schedules. It is my hope that as the leaves gently fall from the trees, we will see the passage of time as a means to slow down instead of speed up.
In my efforts to spend more time outside and observe more around me, I did the “color challenge” the other week. I chose a color of the day — for me, it was orange — and for the entire day, I took pictures of items around me that were the color orange or had a sliver of the color orange in them. I took pictures of everything from building awnings to a Knicks hat, a man selling oranges, a cellphone case, a traffic cone, and more. It was such a fun personal exercise to help me slow down for the day. I’ve seen friends go out for the day where each person chooses a different color. I’ve even seen friends in different cities choose the same color for the day and share photos of their differing surroundings.
However you choose to usher in autumn, I hope it will involve some time spent outside, enjoying the crisp air and the changing leaves. Even if only for a short time.
Christina Greer, Ph.D., is a professor at Fordham University; author; senior policy fellow at Brooklyn Org; and co-host of the podcast FAQ-NYC.
