A False Sense of Autumn

North Carolina is a deceptive state sometimes. Today was one of those days. I had a workshop after school today on Guided Reading. I was driving home about 40 minutes ago and the AC in the car was on low. It was just warm enough outside to need it, but it didn't look like it was too hot.

I popped in some music, John Mayer. I had downloaded a bunch of songs and burned the CD a while ago. A lot of his stuff has become my new "driving music" if you know what I mean. On a day like today, when the Beltline is relatively free of traffic post-rush hour, driving music is always in order. At the end of a day, as the sun is starting to get lower on the horizon, my driving music is usually something that I can sing to and not hard rock-ish. John Mayer, I have discovered over the years, is the perfect kind of music for this kind of driving.

So here I am, singing along to the music in my car. There comes this moment where I forget how tired I am, that I should have brought home some of the kids' work to look over, and that my AC is on. I'm singing my heart away and I catch the scent of crisp air with a tinge of burning leaves. I know that a lot of people hate this smell, but to me it reminds me of my childhood and of growing up. It reminds me of the colors of Michigan in the fall. The way the sun was starting to set, the cool air, the smell of the leaves, the driving music without the traffic. It just made for this perfect five miles of driving. I realized suddenly that it wasn't really fall and that the cool air was manufactured. For a brief moment I could have been eight years old again and in Michigan for the fall. A sweet smell, the sun the right way and some music.

One thing I miss down here- the Autumn season just can't compare in the south to what it is in Michigan.