I'll fall in the fall.......you'll see, September can be heavenly!! If you fall, say you'll fall for me....when autumn leaves are falling from the trees!!!!

Oh, my goodness!!!  It's THAT time of year again!  Autumn!  Fall!!  The changing of the seasons always tends to make me more reflective......but the changing of the guard from summer to fall makes me melancholy.  But not in a bad way...........in a mellow, taking stock of your life and measuring your blessings kind of way.   Maybe it's because Thanksgiving is in the fall.....maybe it's just because the colors are so beautiful and the air is so crisp and refreshing after the draining summer heat......maybe it's the shortening of the hours of daylight and the promise of longer, cooler nights custom made for snuggling. I don't really know why.....but this is my all-time favorite time of the year.

I love spring....the symbolic renewing of life.......and summer with it's long, lazy days is fine.  Winter is okay with crisp, frozen mornings and snowflakes.....but something about autumn makes my heart beat a little happier.

I anxiously await the turning of the leaves...celebrating the jewel tones of the falling leaves - painted by God's own hand.  I love the smokey smell in the air, the spicy scent of pumpkin-flavored EVERYTHING.  Nothing beats a steaming mug of coffee on a chilly, foggy fall morning!  I love being able to wear my sweaters and jackets again and of course, I love pulling out the boots (NO more shaving those legs every few days!!) I love the way the leaves crunch under my feet when we go for a walk and I love the way the falling leaves twirl and spin on the wind as they waft from tree limb to ground.  I love acorns and pine cones!  I love jumping into piles of leaves!  I love how my cheeks get pink on our evenings walks from the chilly air!

I love hayrides, bonfires, homecoming games, and Halloween candy! I love pumpkins, hay bales, scarecrows, rainbows of mums and pansies.  I love back-to-school sales, trick-or-treating and costume parties!  I love apple cider, picking apples, and apple pies. Harvest moons, corn-mazes, and the way sunlight turns a bright golden color in the late fall afternoons.  I love how the humidity falls and you can clearly see the stars twinkling in the velvet black skies at night.  I love building a fire in the fire place and cuddling up close while we stare into the flames and share our hearts.

I love going for hikes in the flame-colored woods and I love roasting marshmallows on sticks by a toasty fire. I love big bushel baskets of harvested vegetables and I love squash, gourds, Indian Corn and pumpkins!! I love candy corn and those candy-corn orange and green pumpkins!!!  And I love cornucopias and silly Tom Turkeys and Pilgrims!!  I love it when the whole world pauses and contemplates how thankful they are for their blessings!

I love foggy mornings, spooky midnights and the giant yellow harvest moon.  I love hearing hoot-owls and I love the giant flocks of birds flying south for the winter!  I put extra birdseed out so that my back yard can become a stop-over for the migrating birds!

I pretty much love everything about the fall.   Now, pass me that Pumpkin Spice Latte!