umbrellas are for transients.

current soundtrack:

the woods by ohbijou

i've been listening to this song on repeat for over
a week. perhaps it has something to do with my
sitting in the library working for 12 hours a day.
perhaps it has something to do with my lingering
desire to go get lost in the woods. perhaps it has
something to do with the long walks over crunchy
leaves i take before the sun comes up. perhaps i just
really like anything that comes out of vancouver.

perhaps it has something to do with the season.
because i grew up in a place that has very distinct
seasons, i tend to change with them, in a
very comforting way, like my body is ready
for the change. the music i listen to, the
colors i wear, the things that attract my
interest, the food that i crave all seem to
be strongly associated with the season in which
i find myself.

this natural rhythm has been pretty severely
interrupted since i left my home town and have
been moving every few months for the past three
and a half years. this fall is the first i've been in a
familiar place in nearly four years, and i'm loving it.

yesterday around dusk i went for a magical bike
ride. it has been so clear and crisp lately and i was
able to soak up the last few rays of sun when they
are at their most golden, as i slowly pedaled
along in an old cashmere sweater and fuzzy beanie.
the trees are all changing but at different rates so
some are still green and lush, others explosions
of fiery colors, still others stripped to their
skeletons as the leaves decompose on the
sidewalk leaving that great fall aroma lingering
in the air. i rode down by the park and saw older
couples out for an evening stroll, people out walking their
dogs and kids running home from soccer practice.
the ducks and geese were busying feeding in the
pond as huge swarms of blackbirds undulated above.

i rode just until the stars came out and the cold
started nipping at my nose. when i got home i had
a wonderful fall apple--crisp, juicy and sweet as ever.
then i made a nice, warm and hearty dinner of
spaghetti squash topped with a quick stew of
tomatoes and garbanzo beans with some warm
cornbread muffins on the side. it was a wonderful
slice of fall and a great reminder that life exists
outside of schoolwork and applications.

this baudelaire poem fits perfectly:

CORRESPONDANCES

la nature est un temple où de vivants piliers
laissent parfois sortir de confuses paroles
l’homme y passe à travers des forêts de symboles
qui l’observent avec des regards familiers.

comme de longs échos qui de loin se confondent
dans un ténébreuse et profonde unité,
vaste comme la nuit et comme la clarté,
les parfums, les couleurs et les sons se répondent.

il est des parfums frais comme des chairs d’enfants,
doux comme les hautbois, verts comme les prairies,
—et d’autres, corrompus, riches et triomphants,

ayant l’expansion des choses infinies,
comme l’ambre, le musc, le benjoin et l’encens,
qui chantent les transports de l’esprit et des sens.

(and for you stubborn non-francophones...
i like the imagery in this poem a lot
so here's the link to the english
but it's so much better in the original french)