Sunday, October 3, 2010

Is that Autumn in the Air and Sky?

Do I feel, see and smell autumn?  Every season has its appeal, but autumn is my favorite.  The end of the dog days of summer where you sweat like a pig 24 hours of the day without a break when the sun goes down and only intensified when the sun is up.  Summer here in Miami is rough.  The humidity engulfs you and keeps you sweating and looking like a wilted flower.  Every time the temperature rises I can't help but think that heat breaks DNA bonds and always wonder if this affects our bodies?  

"DNA doesn't actually decompose when heated. It just melts. DNA comes in two 
mirror image strands that you could visualize as a zipper. The chemical bonds that make up each strand of the zipper are permanent joins, but the teeth that connect the two strands are much weaker and sensitive to heat. So when you expose DNA to heat (for instance, by boiling it), the two strands of the zipper separate. By 
very slowly cooling that denatured DNA, you could actually get the strands to 
reanneal or zip up again.
Christine Ticknor, Ph.D.
Ireland Cancer Center
Case Western Reserve University"


As you can see above, slow cooling gets it to "zip" up again, but can it do that inside the body?  It just freaks me out and gives me yet another reason to dread summer temps and sets my mind to thinking about all sorts of things.  

I find the turning of the season to autumn, rejuvenating, inspiring and uplifting.  This means the best time of year beginning with my favorite holiday, Halloween! Everything about it is fun and unique.  Dress up in costumes, eat lots of candy and decorate with fun items.  Then have a more relaxed holiday with Thanksgiving where I can eat delicious turkey and enjoy my favorite pies that I only really eat once a year. Pumpkin, apple and pecan/nut.  Rich decadent pumpkin pie with globs of whipped cream.  Delicate apple pie, simply made with a touch of cinnamon and minus all those other heady spices, served up with a giant scoop of cinnamon ice cream.  And pecan/nut pies so rich and buttery and flecked with milk, white or dark chocolate!  Christmas is unnecessary to go into.  It is simply "the most wonderful time of the year," and the perfect time to get together with family and friends.

The weather is changing folks I can feel it in the air because our 90+ degree days are giving way to mid 80's and that is cool for us.   Our leaves don't change color, but instead our skies become orange-coral at dusk and breezes take on the burnished fragrance reserved for northern leaves.  

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