Naked Trees and the Three Missed Stoplights

Hmm… these watery eyes. What am I gonna do with you guys?

I just came back from taking my evening walk and here I am wiping away this liquid coming out of my eyes.

I was down a couple of blocks away from here at the stoplight waiting for it to change and, as I’m waiting there, I see this leaf float in front of me and fall.

And I see it’s a dried-out leaf and I felt the water in my eyes start to fill up a little bit.

I go, what’s going on?

And then I look up at the trees and they’re a little bit emptier. The branches are not carrying as many leaves as before.

And I go, oh my gosh. I know what’s happening.

It’s March here in Buenos Aires and we’re moving toward fall.

And that just… I guess it did something to me because first of all, while I love the colors of the leaves in fall, it starts to get colder and then winter comes and that’s pretty difficult for me too.

I am allergic to the cold.

It makes me break out in shivers and that’s not comfortable at all.

I don’t function well in cold weather and when winter comes, you know, I assume that’s when I wish I had some wings so I could just fly north because north is gonna be summertime.

And that’s another confusing thing for me.

When I moved here about a year ago the seasons flipped from what I was used to in the Northern Hemisphere.

Winter being in December and summer being in June and July.

And here it’s the opposite.

So when winter came along here last year and it started in June, my body was like, yes, go put on your speedo and get to the beach.

And then I go outside and my body’s like, put on ten layers of clothing right now. This is an emergency. You can’t wait any longer.

So I’m not a fan of winters.

And when I saw that leaf fall in front of me I realized that right around the corner is winter.

And this is gonna be my second winter here in Buenos Aires.

Which is good, I guess.

But at the same time I stood there at the light looking at the trees and remembering last year and how it was.

It’s almost like I have this reel playing in my head of the progress of all the trees happening within thirty seconds.

The leaves start falling off.

The trees are standing there bare.

It’s cold.

They have no leaves.

And they’re all naked.

And for me it’s such a cruel joke from Mother Nature.

“I’m going to take off all of your leaves in the winter so you can freeze your trunks off. And then in the summer I’m gonna fill you with so many leaves that you’re gonna suffocate and get all humid and start dripping sap from every little branch of your fun little tree bodies there.”

And then I go back to this reel that’s playing in my head of how all the trees look.

Yeah… they’re naked.

They have no leaves.

And they’re all kind of standing there.

And wow.

It’s one of those images where I go, this is not the type of orgy I want to be part of, thank you.

And then at the same time I’m looking at their branches and some have the pose of a fancy dancer and others look arthritic.

Their branches and twigs all twisted in some type of contorted frozen pose.

And there I am missing three stoplights because I’m standing there contemplating all of this.

Then I see another leaf fall and join the other one on the floor.

And I go, oh no… more water in my eyes.

So I hurry back home.

And then I suddenly remember that the reason I had gone out was to go to the store.

And I’m like, oh my gosh. The store’s closed and I was supposed to buy food and now I’m gonna be hungry.

Okay.

Well now what do I do?

There’s little leaves outside. I can always go pick some up and make myself a salad.

But oh well.

This will teach me to drift off into naked tree orgy land and forget what I was actually supposed to be doing.

Anyways, I’m gonna stop this recording now.

I needed to record.

Okay.

Record stop.