Fall's the Saddest Season

A lot of people say winter is the saddest season of the year.  It’s dark at 4 in the afternoon, you awake to darkness, and your jacket never comes off.  Every year, I always find fall to be the saddest season.  It’s an odd time of year: the days are shorter but it’s always very bright.  But when I stop and observe the quality of the light, it’s different from the light of summer; the light of fall is more golden, it falls at a more indirect angle, and when it shines on the red of the maple tree leaves, it creates the most sensational golden red hue.  

Fall provokes memories.  When I walk outside in the afternoon, with the sun glinting off the red trees, hearing the crunch of the fallen leaves underneath my feet, buried underneath my warmest jackets already, memories of the closing year come into my thoughts. I think about what I’ve accomplished this year.  I think about where I’ve gone this year.  I think about how I’ve grown this year.  I think about where I’ve come from.  All these memories pour into my head in fall.  It’s interesting, rarely does it happen in summer.  Fall has a cool and crisp taste to it that’s simultaneously warming.  This time of year passes by ineffably fast.  And it’s hard to say why.  That makes fall the saddest season.

Maple @Peabody Museum

Along the Great Lawn Wall