Welcome, Fall!

 Last Friday, a wind blew through Tashkent.  Clouds rolled in as the Virginia creeper covering our pool house blew wildly in the gusts.  A few smattering drops of rain dotted the dust and sent the children in to the house to escape the storm.

Saturday morning, fall was here.  

Up until last Friday, Tashkent was firmly still stuck in summer.  The weather had started to cool down, but the children swam every day and horseback riding lessons were sweat-drenched.  When I thought of anything but hot days and short-sleeved shirts, my mind couldn't imagine what that would be like.  I figured that summer would continue endlessly in one green, blue-skied, and sunny eternity.

But on Saturday, everyone was wearing jackets and jeans as we all enjoyed the warmth of a roaring bonfire.  I've started to notice trees turning yellow around town, and when we pulled in to the embassy parking lot yesterday, it was looking positively autumnal.

The temperatures have dropped into the mid-seventies during the day and the mid-fifties in the evening, which has made for absolutely beautiful afternoons.  However, it has ushered in the awkward temperature dance that happens in the fall and spring.  The houses here are enormous concrete boxes with no insulation, which makes them quite cool as soon as the temperature drops below the upper seventies.  This past week I was in socks, slippers, and a wool cardigan while teaching school and had to sleep under several blankets at night.

So I had the boilers turned on and by the next day everyone was throwing open windows to cool the house down.  Brandon complained about having to sleep in such a sweat box, but I pointed out that my feet had been ice cubes the night before.  We've turned off a lot of individual radiators to cool down some, but such is life with boilers.  Sometimes I have fantasies about one day living in a house with central heating and thermostats.

The cold-lovers in our family are delighted with the advent of fall, and are looking forward to crisp days and hot chocolate, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  The fall fruits have come in to season and I'm enjoying pomegranates, persimmons, and pears.  Last week I made Brandon a quince tart, one of his favorite desserts.  

When I asked Eleanor today what she was looking forward to, she exclaimed, "snow!"  I'm happy for the change of seasons too, but less looking forward to the cold, grey days of January and February.  

But for now we're enjoying the beginning of another long, pleasant Tashkent fall that will take its time before descending into winter.  I'm not sure where we'll end up next, so I'll enjoy the last fall here while I can!