Autumn Observations

Looking back at the blog post from a year ago - Friday, November 8, 2013 - I found that my observations about the season apply very well to now:

Though every day that passes brings change, the fall seems to bring more intensity in the change. Much is happening - noticeably shortening days, the changing colors of foliage, the trees shedding their leaves, the large temperature swings, cold nights.  The hour shift when daylight savings time is replaced by standard time is especially jarring.  Of a sudden, it is getting dark right after work.

I have a panoramic view from my office window, out to the south over Rock Creek Park and the neighborhoods of Northwest Washington.  To the east, I can see the Capitol, the Washington Monument, and the shimmer of the Potomac beyond.  To the west, the buildings of Bethesda rise above the tree tops, and farther away, and somewhat to the south, is Tysons Corner, Virginia.  On a clear day I can see to the Blue Ridge.

Yesterday, which was a cloudy day with light rain from time to time, I was treated to a spectacular display of fog and diffused light in the afternoon as the storm began to break.  Sunlight streamed through the clouds, and the air was thick, filling each little valley with fog that silhouetted the bare branched trees on each hill.  The light shifted constantly, growing bright and then fading as I watched.

This morning the scene was entirely different.  Beneath the blue morning sky, a layer of clouds sailed briskly along from west to east.  The rising sun angled in below the clouds, kissing the tops of the trees with their autumn colored leaves, and reflecting brightly off white painted buildings and glass windowed office buildings.  About noon, the sun was up enough to the south that it began streaming in through the window, and I had to close the blinds.   When I left the building at lunchtime, I discovered that the wind pushing the clouds along was sailing along at ground level as well, and quite brisk.

Ahh, invigorating autumn!