Thursday, September 16, 2010

Autumn in L.A.

As I grew up in Pittsburgh, where there actually was an autumn, it was my favorite time of the year. I’ve always disliked hot weather, and fall meant the time things cooled off. Plus, I loved watching the leaves turn color.

My favorite musical was even related, distantly, to fall. I adored THE FANTASTICKS, and especially the song “Try to Remember” which mentions the month of September. Autumn begins toward the end of September, and the month, to me, was the harbinger of school starting again (yes, I enjoyed school, notwithstanding the grumbling I did in my post last week) and the weather changing.

But years ago I moved to Los Angeles. There are essentially two seasons here: the rainy season, and the rest of the year. The rainy season, if there is one in any given year, equates somewhat in time with winter everywhere else. No snow or really cold weather, though--at least not in most years.

Palm tree leaves don’t change color. Neither do the leaves on most other kinds of trees that grow here. There are a few, though, that do. If you’re going to ask me which ones, forget it.

I used to know which maple trees in my yard in the east changed and which colors they’d take on. Here, though, I don’t pay a lot of attention to which trees choose to change color, or even when they elect to do it. I do enjoy watching the jacarandas bloom, then lose blossoms and leaves, but I can’t tell you which months they do so. I believe that liquidambar trees here change colors and shed leaves, too. Some trees imported from elsewhere act similar to the way they do in their native habitats, if they survive. Plus, there’s a big tree in our backyard that we’ve never been able to identify that decides once a year to lose its large number of small leaves.

On the whole, though, treetops tend to remain green. Other growth goes brown, at least on the ground, in the non-rainy season.

This all makes trips in the fall to places where the leaves change even more special. One of these years I’ll do that again.

By the way, the winner of my contest last week was N.L. Gassert. Nadja, if you'll e-mail me at lindaojohnston@rocketmail.com with your address, I'll send your copy of HOWL DEADLY. And although I’m not giving a prize here on KillerHobbies this week, I’m also a guest blogger today on Fresh Fiction--and I am giving away another copy of HOWL DEADLY there. Stop in and see why I write so much about animals: http://freshfiction.com/blog/

Have you ever visited L.A.? What time of year? Did you enjoy the weather?

12 comments:

Betty Hechtman said...

I do notice a fall change in the weather in L.A. The air is warm, even quite hot, but it dry and light as chiffon. There's another thing about fall in L.A. - it's fire season.

Camille Minichino said...

I always say California days have four seasons in themselves -- even during my brief stays in LA, the morning is wintery and overcast, it gets springy by 11 or noon, then outright summer in the afternoon, fading in fall by night.

Repeat the next day, no matter what the season everywhere else!

Linda O. Johnston said...

That's true, Betty. Fall is fire season because summer dries everything out. I guess I don't notice the lightness in the air, and we get both hot and cooler days in the summer. I know it's fall, but the change isn't as dramatic as in the east.

Linda O. Johnston said...

You're right, Camille! Love the analogy. But I don't like to think that every day here is a year.

Camille Minichino said...

I didn't express it very well!

I meant that each day has four seasons!

Monica Ferris said...

I was stationed in Alameda back in the sixties, just across the bay from San Francisco. There is something more like four seasons up there, much cooler in "winter," warm in summer. But like Camille said about LA, is even more true in San Francisco. The layered look is necessary if you're going out for the day, sweater-chilly in the morning, sleeveless-warm during the day and raincoat-cold (and damp) in the evening. It's trickier to remember when things happened out there -- no distinct seasons to help pinpoint events.

Linda O. Johnston said...

Got that, Camille, and as I said I love the analogy. And really, only a few days now and then feel like a year!

Linda O. Johnston said...

It's always surprising how different the climates are between cities in California, Monica, and even in the same city. The eastern part of the San Fernando Valley is cooler than the western part, and neither is nearly as cool as the beaches. Then there are the other parts of L.A. itself, the nearby deserts...

Camille Minichino said...

Thanks for pointing that out, Monica!

I have the same trouble since my wardrobe doesn't change significantly from one "season" to the next here in the SF Bay Area -- there's no clue about when that event was ...

Linda O. Johnston said...

That's true--having seasons did seem to make it easier to recall when certain events occurred, Monica and Camille.

My apologies, BTW. I tried to approve a delightful comment about the scent of snow. but it disappeared--don't know whether I accidentally deleted it or whether it's just being slow to appear. In any event, I've sometimes caught the scent of rain but don't recall anticipating snow because of its smell.

NL Gassert said...

I won. I won. THANK YOU.

Linda O. Johnston said...

You're welcome, Nadja!