Fall is officially here in Minnesota.The maple trees are on fire with bright orange and red leaves starting to drop, the birch trees are aglow with their bright yellow-gold leaves contrasting with their white bark. Put that with the deep forest green pines mingled in with them and it is a Fall sight to behold.
With leaves turning color and starting to drop to the ground and the overnight temperatures dropping to the upper 20’s-30’s, it is also time to pull out the Red Buffalo plaid shirts, blankets,caps and travel mugs. It’s Fall in Minnesota and what better indicator that Fall is here and Winter is near than spottings of Red Buffalo plaid out of storage and all over town. While it was never too far away or thrown way back in the closet, Red Buffalo plaid has been a stranger for the past 4-5 months for most Minnesotans. While flip flops and shorts are still close at hand hanging on the chair in the bedroom, it will most likely now be accentuated in the mornings with the Red Buffalo plaid shirt over a short sleeve shirt. Something that can quickly be shed when the afternoon temps get in the 40’s and 50’s.
A few days ago when I was at Fleet Farm and The Kwik Trip getting gas, I couldn’t help but smile as I watched all the old timers right on down to a newborn in the cart...they all were sporting Red Buffalo plaid shirts or hats or even baby socks. It was such a classic early MInnesota Fall day sighting. I suddenly realized how much I have missed these sightings over the past several months.
There is something about that Red Buffalo plaid that brings me to kind of a reflective moment in life. I’m not sure why. But when the weather starts getting cooler and I start seeing the Red Buffalo plaid coming out, I start to think of how the Summer was just here for such a fleeting moment, and how now it will be getting towards winter for several months. The cold and early darkness will be here and my time will be spent planning for the coming Spring and Summer. It is such a circle of life watching the seasons pass. Some may get more melancholy as Winter approaches, but for me I use it more as a time to plan and do some indoor things I didn’t make time for in the Summer. I do a lot of machine knitting and make hats to donate to the medical clinics in the Cities and people who need them. So many are here from other countries and don't have winter gear. The clinics will give them warm winter stuff as they are able. So they have bags and bags of warm knit hats to hand out. It is fun when down in the Cities at times when I will see someone wearing one of the hats I knit.
In a few weeks we will be starting a new thing called, “Both of us retired”. What will it bring, I am not sure. Possibly a couple winter trips South a few weeks at a time. Hopefully it will help make Winter not seem like the 5-6 months that it can be. It will be different not spending the entire Winter here. I have to wonder if it will mess with my seasonal cycle?
But for right now, I am sitting here sipping on a mug of tea wearing my Red Buffalo plaid fleece shirt. I am warm and cozy and looking out at the trees and leaves blowing around. We are in for some rain and cool weather over the next few days. Today I will start my knitting and get the hats sent out to the clinics in the next 2 weeks or so. Yep it is Fall and it is exciting to have come through another circle of seasons this past year. Here’s to Red Buffalo plaid and the seasons it brings.
No comments:
Post a Comment