In Praise of Fall

Weather is such an event here. The seasons don't casually blend one into another. There's no subtlety. It's more like someone slams a book shut & loudly opens another one. WHAM! it's summer! BOOM! it's fall! SMACK! it's winter! Oh, but then...then there's a time of teasing. A warm day, two warm days, a whole week!!! Could it be spring? Dare we hope? WHAP! it's a blizzard!

Last week some days were so perfect they could almost be described as holy. But today we were smacked in the face with a cold, windy rain. I think fall has dropped in. Literally.

But that's ok. I LOVE fall. It's my favorite time of year. Usually it doesn't rain too much here. The mornings are crisp; the days are sunny with those wonderful fall-y shadows. And the full moon hangs low in the sky and glows like a candlelit pumpkin. (Today was not such a good start to this particular picture I'm painting, but I know it will come.)

Fall is an old fashioned, wooden bushel basket full of good memories. Small town football games, marching band, crisp air & big bonfires. Going to away games on the band bus (a chance to sit & snuggle with my future hubby). On Friday nights, mom would have her yummy chili ready when we got home from school. I would scarf down a bowl, change into my pommarette uniform (complete with white boots with those huge yarn pom-poms on them) and take off for the game.


More memories from my basket: October 12 1972, Joe & I started 'going steady.' We were married four years later on a picture-perfect October 12, 1974. I remember us as newlyweds making pumpkin pie from scratch - from a real pumpkin, not out of the can! We burned up the blender, but the pie was delish. A few years later, we were taking our toddler son to the pumpkin patch. Halloween was a special time, too. He always wanted to be a Transformer robot, but our church encouraged the kids to dress as bible characters. I was a genius - I rigged a robot costume out of the usual foil, boxes & paper towel tubes - but we called it a futuristic armor of God. The sword of the spirit would be a phaser in the future, right??

Fall means comfort food; baked bread, chili, soup, brownies, pie. It's cozy evenings with the fireplace lit, reading, watching tv, doing crafts and not feeling guilty about not being outside.

Fall seems like more of a fresh start to me than the new year or even spring. Maybe it's that 'new school year' habit, but it just seems like a great time to try something new, take a class, try again.
It also means the holidays are around the corner. While I don't like the pressure of gift buying, I do like the Thanksgiving-Christmas ambience.


Youth is like spring, an over praised season more remarkable for biting winds than genial breezes. Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits. ~Samuel Butler


A perfect quote to sum up fall and transist to the subject I want to talk about next time. Until then, Happy Fall, everyone!