Re: [Response.]
[His return is written on the back of a piece of music (Yesterday) in ink.]
Hannah,
I think bonfires have gone beyond just something to make it easier to get rid of dead leaves and debris, in the same way pumpkin-everything has become a thing. Bonfires smell sharp and acrid and like things ending, cleared out the way for something else. The fall is my very favorite season. In Repose you can watch whole trees turn burnt umber and sienna and rust, the colors my brother used to mix on his palette and it's like magic except it comes around every year. You should experience fall this year. All the fall things, like buying mittens and scarves and walking over dead leaves to hear them crunch.
I think the scientists and military personnel probably don't know how to distinguish between teas if they would rather have coffee.
I hate the taste of pumpkin. Real pumpkin, rather than something sugared up and frothed with milk. My brothers and I once carved a dozen pumpkins for our house, and scooped all the pumpkin, and we were then made to eat pumpkin pie and pumpkin soup and pumpkin everything for so long I can't stand it. I think people like the fact that it's temporary and it means something. But I vote strongly for hot chocolate.