A Rainy Autumn Day

Its funny how some words in our vocabulary gets replaced by new words, and we hardly even notice it. I love the word 'Autumn' - for the just the way it sounds, and the exotic feel to the season that I never got to experience as a kid, but always read about in the books. August '05, as I was eagerly waiting for Autumn, I really wondered if I will ever get the chills that I always hoped to experience. It was way better than what I had hoped for - that "Autumn". Well, we couldn't get enough of the season that year, and literally chased the colors from New Hampshire to Virginia every weekend for the entire month of September. That was exactly when the word "Autumn" escaped my world, and replaced by the unattractive "Fall".

Well, I do love fall, but rain on a fall day, hmmm, not so much... It was raining this morning, as I hurried Nyah into the car and dropped her off in the daycare. It was only on my way back, that I realized it was the much dreaded first rainy 'fall' day here in Denver. And to my surprise this is the first time I actually didn't mind it, infact I enjoyed and appreciated the beauty of the rain and the wet colorful leaves that adorned the sides of the winding roads. Ofcourse I was looking at it from a whole new perspective, from the warm,cozy, dry interiors of my car. A silly smile escaped the corner of my lips as I remembered those last 5 years in NY on one such day as this :)
Working in midtown Manhattan, has always been a love-hate relationship for me. The energy and vibe that transcends from the bustling yellow cabs ruthlessly splashing water on my crisp new fall jacket - the overzealous tourists absolutely determined not to let the colorful yet gloomy weather ruin their holiday. Infact, a couple of them have actually had the nerve request me to click their goofy grin infront of the giant coca-cola billboard while I am actually trying so hard to save my jacket.

Fall is actually when I am least prepared for the weather. Huh-afterall-it-isn't-that-cold attitude creeps in from the second fall onwards and the gloves/hats are yet to find their way out of the boxes. I guess even the sun is ill-prepared for the season, it starts showing up very late. So finally after a long angel/devil argument in my half-awake mind, the angel convincingly says 'hey just take a quick shower and get into the bus - you will get another hour's sleep at the least during the bus ride'. Little do both of them know that it is raining today, and the temperature has actually fallen by 10 degrees since yesterday! So just as I lock the doors behind at 8:02 AM being aggressively optimistic that I can still take the 8:02 AM bus, I notice that it is actually 'RAINING'. I get a tiny bit realistic this time around to realize I actually can't go back up for my umbrella or the gloves, which could be in any of the 3 winter wear boxes, I head straight for the bus. At the end of the bus ride, I decide I cannot afford to get my hair any more hideous than it already is from all the drenching from the doorstep to the bus stop I give in and finally buy another one of those $5 umbrellas from the PA building gift shop. I did actually end up being an $5 umbrella-collector with 23 umbrellas at the end of the 5 yr period. I could have actually opened up a gift shop myself - better still I could have rented out the umbrellas for $1 a day to guys just as ill-prepared as me :)

As I step out of the PA building, my mind effortlessly wanders off, and becomes a vibrant part of  the rainy morning new york quirkiness. Little do I mind, how wonderful my wet hand that is holding the umbrella upright for the last 20 mins, feel against that chilling fall wind and the burning sensation of the sensitive inner nostril lining from breathing all that fall air. It is all a harmonious part of the fresh breathtaking fall morning.

I smile again with my hands on the warm steering wheel - 'I do want to go for a walk again today, just to be reminded of how I hate to love this rainy Autumn day :) '