a flying cat made of chocolate

Right now, Wisconsin is likely awash in fall colors. Bright red, yellow, and orange leaves are warming the cool October air and filling the sky with...life. I've heard that the Northeast is the place to go to in Autumn, but unless pictures don't do it justice, the St. Croix River Valley* is just as gorgeous. Soon, the first winter snow will fall, and the air will become still and quiet, and if you stopped and listened carefully, you might actually hear the snow fall. With enough luck, the snow will fall at night and you could watch the flakes streak through the light of a streetlamp. Then the spring thunderstorms will come with anxious fury, beat back the last traces of winter, and usher in the heat and humidity of summer. When August arrives again, the skies will light up blue and electric with heat lightning, which is like no lightning you've seen in your life.

Few things are more beautiful than midwestern weather.

But certainly not nothing.

As I prod the seemingly friendly Seattle job market and dread the imminent drizzle, I'm finding this an agreeable place to be. I'm spending time with some friends I've missed over the last four seasons, making some new friends, and enjoying the complete lack of 1,600 miles between me and the woman I'm about to fall back to sleep next to. But I hope I haven't seen my last St. Croix fall, my last evening snowfall, my last furious thunderstorm, or my last heat lightning. I could wish for these here in the Northwest, but I might as well wish for a flying cat made out of chocolate.



*If you ever find yourself in Minneapolis/St. Paul in October with a free day, take a drive out to Hudson, Wisconsin and go up WI-35 to St. Croix Falls, then cross back into Minnesota through Taylors Falls and take MN-95 back down to Stillwater. Bring a camera.