Fall officially arrived two days ago, and Mother Nature has taken notice.
This morning the temperature registered a chilly 48 degrees F, cool enough for me to forego shorts and pull out a pair of capris. My fleece jacket is also at the ready for my walk with my dogs. And yesterday we were blessed with a good amount of much-needed rain.
Fall is a good season and it provides something for all our senses. The morning air feels crisp and cool. Warm clothing and flannel sheets feel cozy against the skin.
The air smells different. In New Mexico, the smell of roasting green chilis is a common aroma. In some areas, where it still is allowed, burning wood in fireplaces and fire pits fill the air with smells. Fallen leaves have a smell all their own. I get the urge to bake and perhaps make a pot of soup to fill the house with wonderful smells.
We don't get a lot of changing colors on the trees here in the high desert, although the aspens and cottonwoods will soon be adorned with beautiful golden leaves. Clothing colors move from brights and pastels to browns and darker colors. Low clouds over the mountains will provide beautiful sunrises. The amazing blue New Mexico sky will look even cleaner and bluer than it usually does.
Soon I will hear the calls of thousands of sandhill cranes as they migrate to their wintering areas. The sounds of the propane burners lifting countless hot air balloons into the clear New Mexico sky will fill the morning air.
Even the flavors change with the change of the season. Pumpkin-flavored products proliferate. Three years ago, I noted that Trader Joe's was selling 44 different pumpkin-flavored items. And this year, pumpkin Cheerios made their appearance. This is all lost on me, of course, as I lost my senses of taste and smell more than a year ago. But it's still a nice reminder that fall is really here.
It's what comes after autumn that I dread -- cold temperatures, perhaps a bit of snow and early sunsets that make the days drag by. My arthritic hands will not be happy in the cold morning air. I don't like 4 p.m. sunsets.
But for now, I will make the most of the beautiful fall weather and just perhaps, venture into the kitchen to bake a batch of black walnut oatmeal cookies.
Thinking back to this date 16 years ago, I, like so many others, was numb and in disbelief. A plane hit one of the Twin Towers. It must have been a terrible accident, I thought. And then news came of the second plane hitting the other tower. This was no accident.
I worked for a federal agency in the San Francisco area that shared property with the military. Immediately after the attacks, all the access gates were closed, with only the main gate remaining open. Every vehicle entering was searched inside and out and underneath for explosives, and our IDs were carefully checked. We also were quizzed about where we were going.
I was among a few employees who stayed at work to handle the deluge of requests from local news media wanting to interview our senior managers for their thoughts and "reactions." So I and a couple of other people arranged interviews, coordinated our efforts with headquarters in Washington, D.C., and developed talking points.
This went on for several days, with little time to mourn the horrendous loss of life. Finally, on a day off work, I had time to process what had happened. As I sat in my favorite chair in the living room, watching the endless replays of the airplanes striking New York's Twin Towers, and listening to the non-stop news media coverage, the tears started. And they would not stop.
Life has changed in so many ways since that day, when cowards perverted their Muslim faith and used it as justification to kill innocent people. Now we must remove our shoes, coats, belts and sometimes our watches before we can board an airplane. We go through multiple document checks and are subject to patdowns, scanning and swabs for explosives. We are advised that if we "See something, say something." Security has been drastically increased at federal buildings, airports, stadiums and other places where large numbers of people gather.
The would-be terrorists continue to change their approaches to killing and maiming innocent people. But American and other intelligence agencies and police departments, along with private citizens who are quick to report anything or anyone suspicious, are fighting back.Terror leaders have been captured or killed, terror cells and plots have been interrupted, and people are willing to get involved in the fight against terrorism on land and in the skies.
Sept. 11 should, in my opinion, be made a national holiday. Cancel Columbus Day, which is a minor holiday celebrated by the federal government but not by anyone else. And it is a growing source of irritation to Native Americans who resent having to honor a man who enslaved and killed so many of their ancestors.
Let us instead honor the thousands who died on that beautiful autumn day in 2001. Let us also honor those first responders who rushed in to help the victims. And let us honor the survivors who will forever carry the physical and emotional scars of that day.
Above all, let us never forget.
We don't get a lot of changing colors on the trees here in the high desert, although the aspens and cottonwoods will soon be adorned with beautiful golden leaves. Clothing colors move from brights and pastels to browns and darker colors. Low clouds over the mountains will provide beautiful sunrises. The amazing blue New Mexico sky will look even cleaner and bluer than it usually does.
