My Fall Day

An exercise in writing:
The morning was absolutely perfect - just like a Kansas morning should be - except that it was in Illinois. It was one of those days that are hard to place seasonally - the weather felt like fall, but, considering the earliness of the hour, it could have just as easily been late spring or early summer. The breeze was so slight, it was almost non-existent, but every now and then it would stir up again, teasing myhair and causing meto change myview - looking into the breeze, and also to the landscape beyond.

That evening, I went to a movie, by myself, a brand new experience. I always say that we should all do something each day that we've never done before. The problem is, if you try too hard, you may end up doing several things! And if you don't try hard enough, then you end up looking to hard to make things you've already done work: "Today I made photocopies on the fourth floor of the Internatioanl building." I had to sell my sister's first-born in order to pay the admission fee, and then, as I had a strange craving for popcorn, I had to sell an interest in her second child as well. (Fortunately these shares are not transferrable and revert back to my sister upon death of the holder. And at the rate she's going, the purchasers may very well have died of old age before their claims are withheld).

And what kind of night did I walk out into! It was rainy and dark. Somehow, the dark feels darker here. I wonder if it has to do with all the lights - our eyes never fully adjust to the dark anymore. Or the clouds were lower than usual, even for a rainy night.

But the amazing thing was that it wasn't cold! I stood out in the rain getting gas, and felt wonderful! This is the perfect weather! I've been cold recently, but fall has always been and will always be my season. And I've been saying how lucky I am to get two falls this year: one in Chicago where it comes earlier (which didn't turn out to be entirely true - most of their "fall" days are really wintry) and one when I get back to KC and it's still fall (December - I'm not really sure how KC stacks up to the rest of Kansas, but I am fully expecting it to not get cold until after Christmas, so it better not disappoint).

And, oddly enough, as I write this, I am struck by something incredible! Perhaps it is my lack of disposable free time. Or because I haven't been able to take long walks or climb up hills or drive cross-country. Or it could be the sudden onset of full-fledged coldness that cut my fall painfully short. Either way, I don't feel that odd feeling I get each fall - the "something's coming" feeling. I'm going to have to explore this further.


*On a final note - I'm watching Harry Potter II and I must speak my mind (because I'm so opinionated). John Williams is the most amazing composer alive today! And he stacks up tremendously next to Bach. I have one observation which, although it will not change how I feel about him, must be spoken. His music, his themes, shall I say, can cause one's heart to soar and one's imagination to take wing! But action scenes, from movie to movie, are extremely similar. Others have noticed, too, but you know what? Other composers are exactly the same way! Have you ever compared Titanic to another James Horner soundtrack? And what about Pirates of the Caribbean to Gladiator? I suppose that's probably true in any art form. A painter will always have his style - things that look the same from picture to picture. We are limited in our hand movements - can you really ever change your own handwriting all that much? And yet a painter's style is what sets him apart from the others, and each picture is uniquely wonderful. No one criticizes a Picasso for being, well a Picasso. So, I guess I'm just saying that people shouldn't judge composers the same way.

And - I can paint a picture or make a sculpture or even scratch out a tune on the violin. I can't vouch for the quality of it all (although I think I could make some of this modern art - a large blue dot on a black background?). But I could never write a new song - completely my own, and not based upon any other song I'd ever heard. So I congratulate anyone who has ever composed music on what, I opine, is the most creative talent of all!