Fall is in the Yard

My New York friend says we don't have change of seasons here on the Central Coast. I remember moving back to the SF Bay area after college in WA state and being disgusted with how sunny it was even though it was supposed to be fall. The leaves just slowly withered and turned pale, yellowy brown.

Now I know better. We don't really have "fall color," but if you pay attention you can feel it. Californians have to appreciate more subtle, but still apparent, changes. The air feels different suddenly. The moisture has been sucked out of it and the coolness isn't from the marine layer. The sky looks different--bright blue sky with clouds instead of the usual "low clouds and fog, clearing by midday." The birds change. They know it is fall and they are doing different things, singing different songs. Some different birds (chickadees for example) are out and about in parts of the yard that they have ignored all summer. The plants suffer--or at least they look like they are suffering. The natives are just going dormant. The non-native, drought tolerant are starting to suffer. I guess all the moisture in the ground has been used up after summer. I need to water the less drought tolerant now. (The natives in the more wild part of the yard just go dormant.) And finally, something I hope to escape, the fall cold. Head cold, I mean. Cousin Mia has it. Friends at school have it. It is a sure sign of fall!