Friday, August 29, 2014

Fall Friday



I took myself to breakfast at Tom's this morning, the diner made famous by Seinfeld. I sat outside and ate my eggs and edited my manuscript and watched the returning students and their parents wander by, the parents with that particular mix of joyful pride and bewildered sorrow on their faces as they prepare to let their baby birds fly. The morning is crisp and blue and the neighborhood is once again buzzing with college kids after the empty sidewalks of summer. Freshmen on group tours of the Columbia environs are blooming on every street corner, their faces eager and rapturous. It's hard not to call back how it felt when I was in their shoes, thirty-nine impossibly swift years ago now. It makes me smile even as it pricks me with nostalgia. Fall has arrived. It used to be my favorite season because I was always excited to return to school myself. It is a sweet melancholy to remember.



7 comments:

  1. What a fine and simple post this is, and the photos are spectacular. I, too, have almost a muscle memory of fall and "going back to school." I sort of wish I could do just that, although I'd prefer not writing any papers or taking exams!

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  2. I do adore the exquisite way you return your city to me time after time.
    xor

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  3. We should all go out for breakfast and then go buy ourselves new pens and notebooks this time of year. I'm pretty sure we'd all love to do that.

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  4. Fall means shorter daylight hours. I find that difficult. But already there are pumpkins being harvested around here. Beautiful. I love the pictures in this post. No tractors or fields of pumpkins--such a different version of fall.

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  5. Tom's -- also made famous by Suzanne Vega! :)

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  6. Yes, beautiful post. "...that particular mix of joyful pride and bewildered sorrow." Sweet melancholy it is. I always loved going back to school myself and there are days when I wonder why not take some more classes. But there are other pressing issues and I can learn almost anything I want sitting right here. But it is not the same.

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