Autumn in Every Sense

The Tube was down, so I found myself on an hour long trek across London to pick up a tea set I'd bought. Somewhere along the walk, lost in thought and studying the ground too intently, I noticed the scattered orange leaves beneath my feet. Then came this strange delicious shift, as if autumn itself landed on my tongue. I wasn't just seeing leaves or feeling the wind. I could taste the season. That sensation pulled me back to the present.

It made me laugh, because just a few days earlier I had been at a bar with a drink menu designed around synesthesia. I had never really thought about senses mixing that way. It felt a little far-fetched, but I found myself getting into the concept as I tried the drinks. And now here I was, on my walk, actually experiencing autumn.

Yesterday it happened again while getting my nails done. The color alone pulled me back. I could smell Sensual Amber, the perfume I wore every fall years ago, and I felt the heat of an oven as if I had just pulled out Thanksgiving dressing.

A small but lovely moment of grounding, right when I was starting to feel the drain of being home again after a trip.

Lately I've been wondering what else I can do with the little moments that usually just sit in my photo gallery. Instead of leaving this one there, I grabbed a still from the video of me walking through the leaves and ran it through ChatGPT to see what I could create. I've been into the crayon-drawing look recently, and I played around with a few different versions to see how the style would turn out. Nothing feels final yet, but it gave me a new way to hold on to the memory.