October Light
Believe it or not, Southern California does have seasons, and fall in SoCal is my favorite! Our leaves change and drop to the ground, like everybody else’s, our days grow cool and our nights chilly, but we also have those lovely Santa Ana winds at this time of the year, that sweep down from the northeastern deserts and clear the air so that, as we say, you can see all the way to Catalina.
Blue and gold days, orange grove days – October in the Southwest produces the most gorgeous light. This is when photographers flock to the Mojave to capture those amazing rock and cloud formations. A time, also, for putting jack o’ lanterns in windows and buying Halloween candy (and hoping you don’t eat all the Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups before the little goblins get here). A time, too, of anticipation of greater celebrations to come: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day (when it has never rained on the Rose Parade here in Southern California!).
I so love October that I once wrote a novel called October Light. It was science-fiction, a twist on time travel (and, truth to tell, inspired by one of my favorite authors, Ray Bradbury). But don’t look for it at Barnes & Noble. I never published that book into which I had poured all my passion and adjectives for October – I was sixteen. My mother read it and said it “needed work.” Maybe I’ll dig it out and polish it. Someday. If I can find it. In the meantime, pardon me, I have pumpkins to carve.
Image Source: www.mdidea.com
