At some point during the glorious month of October, there is a distinct shift in the air, a welcome chill on the wind and budding crowds moving back in. I sit on my mint-green art-deco chair in my apartment, looking out of my NYC window in reflection.
***
For many, Summer evokes thoughts of the beach, pink wines and perpetual sun. But for city-dwellers, now is a welcome change. We see changes in color, clothing, cuisine, mood and scenery. Especially after a 2021 heatwave that has seemingly dragged on for six months, I think everyone is ripe for change.
Today, I purposely brought out my Fall coats, slacks, and wide-collared shirts, and hung them on a rod in my bedroom, to gaze. It's as if I am willing the drop in temperature with my mind, an oncoming need for more elegant outer layers.
My favorite season of the year is like a brand new chapter, with holiday feasts only weeks ahead and social plans to make. There are promises of friends coming together in large and small groups and 'Corporate America' steps on the peddle, as the working year enters its final quarter, exhausting those remaining exorbitant budgets. In a way, we all get better dressed and go back in time as we rediscover our sense of style - trench coats, tweed coats and generally expensive coats, bob through distant traffic lights, as humidity evaporates and dinner reservations beckon.
I look to the left at the clock. I still have a few hours.
***
I love walking through the avenues, glancing down at restaurant tables and seeing sauvignon blanc and salads replaced by primitivo and penne courses. Romance enters a new phase with everything becoming warm and rich. I get ideas from the thousands of New York restaurant scenes, to make it a scene of my own with someone else.
My magical 2021 Fall started with meeting an all time favorite fox at an overnight in New Jersey. This was certainly one agent 007, whom I looked forward to seeing again. Then I proceeded to a mid-September trip to California wine country, with its fantastic meals and balmy nights. It catapulted me to a small town of aphrodisiacal powers. In Napa Wine country with a handsome man, I spent several days in a relaxed kind of bliss, in seemingly repeated acts of eating, drinking and loving. It was the promise of a new season.
A weird thing happens as Summer turns to Fall, and I'm not talking about the fact that we can thankfully not sweat in our shirts anymore. The brazen star power of sumptuous red wines take over the stage from the whites - they know their time to shine has come. As the new vintages of the reds meet and greet their partners in restaurants and lovers in mouth, it's almost not about pairing your wine with your food, but your food with your wine. They carry their own weight as solo artists. They must have such an oenological ego!
I look up, at my fragrance table, to glance the collection, deciding for tonight.
***
I eagerly await my beguiling date - a sexy dinner, a cocktail dress, a smart casual affair and a racy night afterwards. I am loving the new obsession with 'Annie Hall' suits presently, complete with some amazing lingerie underneath.
Those are the times I am getting crazy and expectant about, giving him the once-over look in his beautifully pressed shirt. Leaving a regal oak bar, and strolling past extravagant window displays on the way back to the hotel. Sitting next to him in a plane before we drop out of sight for a few days, into a well thought-out break.
Our final exchanges back and forth, as we ultimately part to maybe one day, do it all over again.
***
I take a deep breath in and lay my head back on my bedroom chair with thoughts of boots. I am going to blow my hair out in long, soft waves tonight, so he reaches out to touch it.
I am imagining what beauty, brains and creative energy will embody my coming dates, in a season of new urgency and thrilling adventure.
I'm highly anticipating the Legends of the Fall.
