GIFTS A' FALLIN'

It's a gift. Do we deserve it? Who knows if one can be deserving of such a thing? Sometimes we are given things we haven't earned or didn't even know we could have. Such has been the case with this gift.

Our gift: Autumn. This year, Reno was blessed with Fall. The season between Blazing and Freezing.

In 2007, my first year living in Northern Nevada, Reno saw no Autumn. Only Winter, Spring and Summer. One day it was hot—weather without a cardigan. The next, there was snow. And swear words about the snow.

2008 has been different. Earlier this week, my professional uniform was a short-sleeved, empire-waisted, tied-with-a-biggish-bow blazer with pants not heavy and shoes not boots. In that attire, not armour against the weather, I wanted to skip, four inch skinny heels and all. I wanted to swing my arms wide Fraulein-Maria-style and spin in the weather not winter.

Last year, on this very date, as I had the previous 40 days, I swathed myself in a scarf, tall boots, tights, and a wool coat shut tight with a belt. And I had no desire to twirl in the snow, for I would have slipped on the ice and found myself unladylike in the parking lot, sprawled with runs in my stockings.

With arms wide open, like Julie Andrews in the mountains of Austria, we received Fall this year.

And for that, I'm a grateful girl.