THANKFUL FRIDAY

Fall blue skies are like no other season’s. Sharp, vibrant, fierce. On particularly clear days, the sky can look unreal, like flat backdrops to a stage production. They are so brilliantly blue and crisp that it cause the eyes to squint to look at it. These skies are deceptive. There is no way of knowing by looking out the window what the temperature will be like when you step outside. It could be perfectly wonderful out there or chilly with a cold wind that you can only feel on your ears. Fall skies are strikingly beautiful in an almost painful way. It is as contradictory as my feelings. I love the beauty of it and I hate the cold that comes with it.

The mornings this week have been so dark. Wednesday was the worst for it. It started out with rain and thick, heavy clouds. Josephine and I had to skip our walk, which she didn’t seem to mind since she crawled under the comforter when the alarm sounded. But even when it was time to get up and into the shower, the sky was still dark. I drove to work in the dark. I walked the building for my morning coffee in the dark. It was just …dark. Then I looked out the windows and in the distance, I could see a clear division line between gray clouds and blue sky. It was if we were playing a game where we had covered ourselves and the whole city with a blanket and now someone was slowly pulling the blanket away, not just revealing ourselves to the above, but opening our eyes to a blinding blue sky.

Friday morning as I drove to work, the radio starting playing Be Sweet by Japanese Breakfast. I turned up the volume and sang along with my whole heart. That song makes me think of those ridiculous plastic charm necklaces that we all collected as kids, side pony tails and ruffled skirts. I’m wearing my KSwiss tennies, baggy jeans with strategically ripped knees and an over size sweater and felt all the angsty tween feelings while belting out “I wanna believe in you. I wanna beelieeeeveeee.” The sky around me was that blinding blue sky of Fall. Not a cloud was visible as the sun broke over the tops of the trees, sun rays sparkling on glass and turning the fall leaves into a kaleidoscope.

Be sweet to me, baby
I wanna believe in you, I wanna believe (be sweet)
Be sweet to me, baby
I wanna believe in you, I wanna believe in something

These are the days for sweaters and wool blankets. These are the days for wrapping ourselves up in warmth while sipping on hot drinks. These are the days for reveling in the almost painful beauty of those kaleidoscopes of leaves. These are the days to be sweet to each other.