I LOVE THE FALL!!!!!!

Happy October 1st!!!!!!
Ever since I can remember, Fall has always been my favorite season. And it always seemed like October 1st is the official day where Fall can begin. The threat of the blazing heat is no more. There is just something about the Fall…
Everything seems so much brighter, fresher, deeper and more intense in the Fall.
I feel more alive in the Fall.

I love those crisp days, where the sky is blue, the air is cool and the sun is warm on your face.

I love those first few weeks when you can leave the windows open at night and feel the slight sting of the cold air and then cuddle up in bed next to my honey in our warm, soft blankets, feeling so warm, yet knowing just outside the covers it is a little chilly.

I love that every day the leaves are different. A kaleidoscopic of color just waiting to be noticed.

I love the sound as I walk through the dry piles of fallen leaves. No matter how old I get, there is always something so exciting and new about walking through a pile of freshly fallen leaves. With each pile, I revert to my childhood and jump and kick my way through each one.

I love watching my children experience the same joy with each pile of freshly fallen leaves.

I love not having to worry about how I look in a swim suit any more and having to avoid getting into one at all costs.

I love making comfort foods for dinner again and not having to wonder how long I will have to run the A/C to compensate for the oven.

I love the sound of whistles on the soccer fields.

I love the fall air. It ignites a spark in my brain, some flick of the switch, and before I know it, the flames of creativity are whipped up by that autumn breeze. I feel like I could explode with creativity. My creativity is back with a vengance....it just took a little break in the heat of summer.

I love decorating my home for Halloween. There is something about the whimsical decoration options that come with Halloween. I love getting carried away in preparation for the off chance that we might receive a trick-or-treater, or two. (Maybe this year we will actually get trick-or-treaters. Mapleton offered very few.)

I love to walk by the apple stands. The smell always takes me back to our trips to Apple Hill as a kid. The pure excitement of choosing my first apple fritter.

I get giddy the first time I see pumpkins at the grocery store….And even more excited the first time I see a pumpkin patch open for business.

I love not having to stress out too much about wither or not I put sunscreen on the kids before they go out to play.

I love going on walks at dusk and peering into homes with the lights on and the family is all gathered around the kitchen table. So cozy. My mind always wanders in wonder about the family inside. (I know…a bit creepy but I can’t help myself)

I love the smell of fresh clean rain washing away the months of hot summer on the dirty pavement.

I love it when Costco comes out with all of their Christmas toys.

I love the spicy, comforting scent of wood fires burning. Looking up to see the subtle trail of smoke coming from the chimneys. Each fragrant breath in, sending me back through time to my childhood.

I love the tingling as the blood rushes back to my face and hands when I come in from the cold.

I get warm fuzzies the first time one of my children comes in from playing outside and asks for a cup of hot chocolate.

For once, I actually enjoy the warmth of folding a batch of fresh, hot laundry from the dryer.

I love cracking open my boxes of winter clothes. It is like a shopping spree every year.

I love packing up my swim suits and shorts. GOOD RIDDENS!

I love the wide variety of yummy smelling candles.
I love the sky in the fall. When the sky is blue, it's a much deeper, more intense blue. The puffy, white clouds just pop out of the sky. When it's grey, it's magnificently malevolent. The sunsets explode in a splendor of color as if God is saying, “Man, that was a good day.”

Fall inspires change in me. I always seem to have an increased desire to make positive changes in my life as the season changes from summer to Fall.

More than anything, I think that Fall gives me hope and fresh sense of renewal.
There is something in the way that the trees, even as they die back for the winter have so much left to give. That last glorious effort – Like they are going out with a bang. Their own kind of fireworks grand-finale. It all makes me feel that getting older isn't necessarily a bad thing, and that change isn't always for the worse. And that no matter what, there is always time to sit back and enjoy the crisp Fall air.

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns." ~George Eliot