Umame

This week feels like fall. The poor guy in the office next to mine is from India by way of Texas and is already starting to feel the lack of sunlight. The winters here aren't as bad as everyone makes them out to be -- there's really only a little rain -- but there is a gray that rarely breaks. (It does break, most days, for at least an hour, but if you're stuck working in most office situations it's hard to make sure you're outside for at least a little of that hour. I don't know how people with seasonal affective disorder function here. We're further north than many people realize, which is why we have such gloriously long summer days. But that same northern latitude means that on some days the sun rises after 8 and sets by 4. Pretty soon I'll be running in darkness in the morning.

As for me, I don't mind the winters here all that much. My violent hatred of the cold means that I'd rather deal with some mild-temperatured gray than with the crappy stuff I grew up with. I may be the only person in Seattle who hates it when it snows, which most years it doesn't do. And anyway I'm looking forward to fall produce. The pears are already showing up, as are some of the winter squash. I'm still trying to use the last remnants of summer stuff where I find it before it disappears for another several months: berries, melon, tomatoes, corn, basil. But the days are getting shorter every day and I'm starting to find myself craving autumnal foods, stuff bursting with umame.