I'm about to confess to you one of my many delusions: my birthday falls in autumn, and every year I like to think that the trees changing colour is God's birthday present to me. Silly, I know. They change because God commands them to, and the colours are a blessing to everyone, but still... it was sort of a "nature birthday bonus" for me!
When we moved to South Africa, not only did I have to adjust to the fact that Christmas is now in summer, but - gasp! - my birthday is now in spring!! While I appreciate the beautiful (and just as colourful) spring blossoms, it's just not the same as autumn leaves. I was mentioning this to my friend (who, amzingly, is from South Africa and now lives in my hometown in California! Her birthday falls during the same time of year, so she was lamenting the opposite - that her birthday is now in autumn and not spring!)
Anyway, to make a long story short, I got a package in the mail the other day. It was from this friend. Guess what was inside? A bunch of autumn leaves from my hometown!! When I opened the package, the smell of a California autumn greeted me. I cried! It was wonderful! What a special gift (and lightweight to ship!). I now have my very own California leaf pile here in South Africa!
I think next year I should send her some jacaranda and coral tree blossoms. What do you think?
2 comments:
how fun... did you pour the leaves out into a pile & jump in them?
:o)
That was one of my favorite childhood things to do in autumn...
I had a similar experience today. It smelled of rich memories. It was good but hard.
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