I Love Fall

Fall…I have been reminded almost daily since September 22 how much I love the season that is fall. I am not your typical lover of summer like most Indiana people. I like hot weather if I have a swimming pool nearby, or floating on a lake in a boat, but on the whole, I am much more in love with the moderate temperatures of fall and spring. And fall, especially this year, is my sweet spot.

I love that comfy feeling of knowing that blanket weather is coming. I love being outside as much as I can when the humidity starts to wane and there is a coolness in the air. The beginning of fall can still be a little hot for this girl, but I get just enough glimpses of what’s to come that I am walking around in a state of excitement, like my biological clock is primed and ready! I love it when the sun loses a little of its potency and the hazy summer sky gets that crisp blue color only God can make.

I’ve always had this feeling of nostalgia when autumn rolls around. (Fun Fact: I researched a little today about autumn vs. fall. They are completely interchangeable, but American English tends to use the term fall whereas British English is autumn). I love most of the things that September, October, and November usher in. If you’ve followed me long you know I am a sucker for football and the start of school, so there’s that. September starts to put to bed those long, lazy days of summer as we focus on things to come. I put away my red, white, and blue decorations and go for the oranges, browns, tans, and reds that somehow relate to a feeling of cozy and fullness that summer colors don’t hold for me.

October rolls around and I ring in my birthday…and I LOVE my birthday, always have! If you ask my husband, kids, parents, friends, or extended family, it’s more like my “birth month” really. I’ve spent some birthdays with snow flurries and others with shorts on, but I know what’s right around the corner. Cold nights, turning leaves, and pumpkins.

Picking out those perfect pumpkins to sit on our front porch was a fun adventure this year. My husband Dave and I stopped by a little farm on our way home from visiting family one weekend. I saw there was a stand with a sign that read pumpkins were $3.oo. They looked big and nice, so we stopped. We did not see the farmer until we had pulled in and gotten out of our car. He came walking our way with white hair sticking out from under his baseball hat, a flannel shirt, and work boots and a perfect memory of my grandfather rolled all over me. He was the kindest man and had a tractor-trailer full of yellow pumpkins that we didn’t see from the road. We walked with him to see them and I fell in love. I had never seen yellow pumpkins quite like this, or honestly if ever before. There were two shades, one lighter yellow he said was called, “Mello-Yello” and one brighter shade called, “Lemonade”. We went with the lemonade. My grandma’s favorite color was yellow, so I took home a little piece of both of them that day.

This year I have been in complete and utter amazement at the brilliant colors of the leaves. I don’t know if it’s the abnormally warm fall we’ve been having or what, but I’ll take it. I’ve stopped on walks so many times in the last few weeks just to take pictures of trees. I don’t remember so many holding so much color. Our next-door neighbor’s Maple tree was almost highlighter red like it was on fire from within. Another Maple around the corner was a lemon-yellow work of art, like my pumpkin on the porch. One evening on a walk the sun was hitting an orange-leafed tree in such a way that it was glowing. I have always been in awe when the leaves begin to turn, but this year is hitting differently. Maybe it’s because I have left a job that was always crowding my mind and spirit, or maybe God really did pull out all the stops this year, but whatever the reason, I am so appreciative of the beauty this time around!

Now we are into November and this weather is stunning. Today is a high of 60. The sky is already a beautiful blue with zero clouds. I saw the moon this morning around 4:00 AM and I just stared in awe at how it lit up our entire backyard. Tomorrow morning, early, we will get to see a total lunar eclipse, also called a “Blood Moon”, and it will be spectacular. With the crisp air at night right now, I say we all wrap a blanket around our shoulders and head outside to see the display. This is the last one of 2022, so it’s worth seeing for sure.

My house was decorated with all things Halloween in October and now all things Thanksgiving in November. I had my husband in Hobby Lobby this weekend and heard Christmas music…I am not one of those people. The first jingle my daughter and I allow is the day after Thanksgiving on our way to Black Friday shopping when we grab a white chocolate peppermint mocha for the first time! I love fall so much that rushing Christmas without soaking in Thanksgiving makes no sense to me. I am a lover of all things Christmas, too, but in due time my friends, in due time! :)

I am thankful for all of the seasons and living in a part of the world where I can see, feel, smell, touch, and even taste the changes. One of my girlfriends lives in Arizona and she misses ice-cold tap water. The ground just never gets cold enough for that…not in Indiana! Freeze your pipes weather is coming, but for now, I am holding on to fall and the majesty of it all!