Southern California in the Fall...

...is just not as exciting as the Northeast in the fall. It's hard to remember that it's October and some places in the country have striking colors filling the hillsides when the hillsides here are all brown and full of scrub grass. I just got back from a conference in Wisconsin, though, and was able to enjoy the beauty of fall once again. There was a tree by our house in Pennsylvania which was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. It had all the colors of fall in one tree - bright red, dusky orange, mustard yellow, and usually a bit of bright leafy green left over from summer. It was a pleasure to pass by that tree every day and get a bit of beauty in the midst of autumn. I will miss Pennsylvania in the fall. Oregon in the fall wasn't that great - it was when the rain began and was a reminder that sunshine wouldn't return until the following summer. The trees changed colors but the mountains were mostly filled with evergreen trees so there wasn't that amazing variety of fall colors.
Another reason I loved PA in the fall was the change in the weather. In PA, it tends to rain continuously during the summer. The fall brought less rain and a crispness to the air rather than that heavy, horrible humidity from the summer. Unfortunately, my trip to Wisconsin didn't have that lovely crispness. I brought my wool suit thinking this would be the one time I would be able to wear it this year, but it was warm and humid with thunderstorms both nights I was there. Actually, it was cooler in San Diego when I landed than it was in Minneapolis when I left. This morning I feel some of that fall crispness in the air. I'm not sure if living in the desert, rather than near the ocean, will make it cooler here than elsewhere in So. Cal. but I'm looking forward to finding out!