Fall in the United States, Fall in the Midwest, my favorite season. When it is Fall there, it is Spring where I am., but Spring where I am is not at all what you would imagine. A dry season. So dry your skin looks gray, your lips crack and your nose bleeds. It may even make you think of Fall (there) with the carpets of leaves covering sidewalks and parks. You can see them running together when the wind blows the earth beneath them. They run and fly, a few inches from the ground, in a wave of browns and ochers. Spring, here is no time for all flowers. I've said it before and it is true: Flowers here bloom at their will, at their own chosen times. Except for the Ipês. Ipê flowers bloom when all seems lost and dry. They bloom and they are a spectacle! I call them pompom flowers. First, come the pink. There was a tree right in front of the building we used to live. Then, come the yellow, my mother's favorite. Finally, trees are covered by white pompons, which remind me of cherry b...