Autumn
I’m sitting on the back porch right now. It’s screened in so I’m not worried about creepy crawlies from the night outside getting me. I have the light on so I can see when Sweetie makes it to the door. This is a necessity, that I wait out here, or else I won’t know when she wants to come in. We haven’t installed a doggie door yet to the outside so that they can at least scratch on the house door. If they scratch on the door they come to now, I wouldn’t hear them from inside. So…I sit out here and wait.
It’s 4:30am and it’s damn chilly. I love it, because that means Autumn is here. The leaves are already changing in just the slightest way. The leaves are definitely falling. Everyone is talking about when they’ll make their trip to Tate Farms Pumpkin Patch, the local Autumn tradition for most families. The kids are talking about their Halloween costumes and Nikki is getting excited about her big birthday part coming up.
In terms of weather? Autumn doesn’t seem to last long here. We get a few weeks of chilly weather and then the cold stuff hits. Same thing with the holidays, Target actually has Christmas AND Halloween stuff out right now. No one seems to want Autumn to linger. Except me. It never seems to last long enough. I hate being cold. I don’t mind being chilly. I love Autumn activities, hayrides, pumpkin patches, costume parties. I hate overdosing on Christmas fudge and wearing sweaters. I HATE SWEATERS.
So I try to enjoy it while it’s here. Camping at the Botanical Gardens this weekend where we’ll get to go on a hayride, hitting the Pumpkin Patch next week while the kids are out of school. We’ve got our costumes chosen, if not ordered yet. We’re finishing up the soccer season, although last night’s game showed us we may need to start wearing long sleeves under our uniforms.
I know in a few short weeks I’ll be bitching about the cold and how much I have to do before Christmas. But for now? I’ll just sit here and wait for Sweetie to finish her business. I’ll go to bootcamp and shiver a bit until the blood gets pumping. I’ll try to find a good pile of leaves around town to let the kids play in. We never got a chance to last year, so this year I’ll make it a priority. If for no other reason but the pictures from two years ago? Are too irresistible to not try to recreate them.
I love the fall, too. The heat of summer is over, and the colors are breathtaking. I wish it lasted much, much longer, though that is part of its appeal, I guess, that it is so fleeting. Soon, all the leaves will be on the ground, and the only color around will be brown. Until the white arrives.
And those pictures? Amazing! Got to get some of my own this year!
I was always puzzled by people who said they loved fall weather — because I grew up in Maine, where fall is COLD (and summers are pleasant).
Only recently as an adult did I realize that the people who love fall weather love it because their summers are so beastly hot (and humid… now that I live in the high desert of Colorado, I wilt in the slightest amount of humidity, yes even in Maine).
I’m still hoping to get out and get some pictures of the fall foliage (it can’t compare to New England’s, but has its own charm); sometimes an early snow or strong winds will force the leaves to the ground way too soon.
LOVE the picture of Nikki in the leaves.
i like fall, too. your littlest guy looks so much like my son in these pix. oh geez babies grow up too fast. that’s the main reason i like fall, i think — i get all misty-eyed and shivery.
Those pictures are fantastic. Absolutely worth prioritizing to get more this year!