Ah yes...the sights, sounds, and smells of autumn. My favorite time of year.
I know what you are thinking, "Yeah, yeah, I know...you and eeeeeeeveryone else's favorite time of year, Jessica." But nay nay, I'm not like everyone else. I have absolutely always loved the fall season. Even when I was young. I've loved fall before it became trendy to love fall.
Basically, I'm an Autumn Hipster.
There's just something about this time of year that makes me happy. Don't get me wrong, I'm never excited to see the hot, lazy days of summer come to an end or ready to usher in the blustery, cold days of winter, but the span of time in between the two makes saying good-bye to summer and hello to winter a whole lot easier to handle. I love apple orchards and hayrides, cool evenings and bonfires, picking the perfect pumpkin patch pumpkin (say that three times fast) and decorating our house with leaves and gourds, the rich and muted colors of the season, trying out every single 'pumpkin flavored anything' recipe I can get my hands on, and...dressing up for Halloween.
The actual idea of Halloween doesn't do much for me, and I definitely don't think of it as a holiday, and I really could even do without the candy, but anything that allows me to dress up and be someone (or something) else for a moment has my vote. That's probably the actress in me. If every holiday required a costume, every holiday would be even more awesome. Ok, who am I kidding? If it was culturally normal to dress up at least once a week, I'd be all over that. Even just a tutu. I could totally rock a tutu.
But, I digress. Really, I said all that to say, I think fall is too short. For that matter, summer is as well. Ok, really, winter is just too long. Especially for those of us here in the eastern Midwest. The other day I was pushing Lil' Man in his stroller through the lovely yellow leaves on our way to the park. It was every bit the quintessential autumn day. We rounded the corner where the sidewalk starts to slope down into this small area with concrete benches and tables. In the center sits an adorable little fountain (more like a glorified bird bath) of a little boy and girl surrounded by frogs and birds. On hot days, it's a welcome sight for sweaty little toddlers and ball-chasing dogs. But on this particular day as we rounded the corner, the sound of trickling water or the sight of a happy boy and girl didn't greet our ears or eyes. Instead, we were met by silence and a green wooden box. The joyful little fountain was closed up for the season. As we passed by, Lil' Man said something about "no fountain", and I nonchalantly said, "Yep, it's all covered up for now, but it will be back...<sudden realization> NEXT YEAR?!"
Whaaat?! In that moment, I was reminded how ridiculously long winter is. It will literally be next year before that fountain reopens. At least a good 7 months. *Sigh* I'm just not ready for that yet. The only thing possibly more disheartening than the impending long winter is that "MOvember" is also right around the corner, but that's for another blog entry...
Well, the good news in all this: it happens to only be the middle of October, so I still have a few weeks of autumn left to enjoy. On that note, I'm going to sip this Pumpkin Spiced Latte my wonderful Hubs surprised me with at work today, gaze out the window at the changing leaves, and ponder my epic costume for this Halloween. Cheers to autumn!
But, I digress. Really, I said all that to say, I think fall is too short. For that matter, summer is as well. Ok, really, winter is just too long. Especially for those of us here in the eastern Midwest. The other day I was pushing Lil' Man in his stroller through the lovely yellow leaves on our way to the park. It was every bit the quintessential autumn day. We rounded the corner where the sidewalk starts to slope down into this small area with concrete benches and tables. In the center sits an adorable little fountain (more like a glorified bird bath) of a little boy and girl surrounded by frogs and birds. On hot days, it's a welcome sight for sweaty little toddlers and ball-chasing dogs. But on this particular day as we rounded the corner, the sound of trickling water or the sight of a happy boy and girl didn't greet our ears or eyes. Instead, we were met by silence and a green wooden box. The joyful little fountain was closed up for the season. As we passed by, Lil' Man said something about "no fountain", and I nonchalantly said, "Yep, it's all covered up for now, but it will be back...<sudden realization> NEXT YEAR?!"
Whaaat?! In that moment, I was reminded how ridiculously long winter is. It will literally be next year before that fountain reopens. At least a good 7 months. *Sigh* I'm just not ready for that yet. The only thing possibly more disheartening than the impending long winter is that "MOvember" is also right around the corner, but that's for another blog entry...
Well, the good news in all this: it happens to only be the middle of October, so I still have a few weeks of autumn left to enjoy. On that note, I'm going to sip this Pumpkin Spiced Latte my wonderful Hubs surprised me with at work today, gaze out the window at the changing leaves, and ponder my epic costume for this Halloween. Cheers to autumn!
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