Autumnal: Belonging to or suggestive of autumn; produced or gathered in autumn; past maturity or middle life.
Autumnal is a word I’ve always liked. The ‘null rolls lazily from my tongue. The word autumn then, is by default also a nice word. That ‘mnnn sound could only be improved by slapping a ‘null at the end of it. Wikipedia reviews the word Autumn well. Many North Americans say Fall. I associate Autumn with the color change of many deciduous trees and plants, football, and most of all with the harvest of crops. Growing up on a farm, the year was always built around reaping what we had sown earlier in the year.
The entire season is a long episode of A Prairie Home Companion – slow and relaxed like Garrison Keiller’s voice.
Despite having been sick this week, likely with the swine flu, I have
enjoyed the weather. It’s been cool in Auburn, with morning temps having been less than 55 at least twice. The cool, moist air makes early-morning bike rides a bit tougher to wake up for. This is my first weekend in Auburn in more than a month. I’ve had some good races; I even won one. I got 6th in my Age Group at World’s in Australia, 21st overall. It was a fun week but the race was flat, fast, and there was lots of drafting on the bike – finished the bike with about 20 to 30 guys from my age group.
Vicky and I spent a fun weekend at the Gulf Coast. We travelled down with the Auburn University Triathlon Team. They paid for our travels and room and were great company. We raced the Brett-Robinson, Gulf Coast Triathlon. It had an awesome ocean swim. I’ve honestly never swam in that rough of seas, so that was a fun experience. I had a strong bike in some wicked cross-winds then went out hard on the run.
But the hard work is almost over. Thankfully, my last race is next weekend. My body seems ready for some rest. Hopefully I can shake the rest of whatever’s got me down right now, and I can pull out a third overall in the Elite Amateur group.
Well, that’s it for now. I hope you’re all snug in your warm, autumnal sweaters.
Jay